


Kamabo

by CalamariMelon



Series: The Works of Agent 24 [2]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Comedy...or attemped comedy, Eventual Romance, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, I'm...pretty proud of this actually..., Kamabo, Lesbian Cephalopods (Splatoon), Minor Violence, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Three is grumpy and I love her
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-11-09
Packaged: 2020-09-06 11:14:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 23,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20290531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CalamariMelon/pseuds/CalamariMelon
Summary: Cap’n Cuttlefish had been looking for Three everywhere, wondering where she was. She had run off and hasn't been seen since they both arrived in the DeepSea Metro. The poor old man wanted to get insight on the agent’s life in the underground on her end but…she was nowhere to be found. Cap'n Cuttlefish was worried...but he was confident in Three's abilities and knew that he would find her eventually. However, if Three would say anything about her current mission, which was investigating Kamabo... she would say that she didn't find anything intriguing. However, she rather calls her time in the underground a disturbing yet…interesting time. This is the story of what happened on Agent 3’s side during the Octo Expansion Story.





	1. Chapter 1: The Octoling In the DeepSea

_Just don’t die. Just don’t die. Don’t die, Three…you’re only 16. Don’t be a fucking idiot and take a wrong step. Avoid her ink at all costs._

The fuchsia-colored ink burned and stung Three’s face. It combined with the sweat that was beading down her body as she attempted to attack the Octoling in front of her. She was…very adorable…but at the same time…she was **ruthless. **

Fighting her was hard and even after years of experience and training, Three was starting to think she was going to lose. Her? **The **Agent 3 of the New SquidBeak Splatoon? Losing?

Never.

Three watched her steps carefully and she constantly dodged from side to side, avoiding the Octolings ink and countering her attacks, whipping out her Hero Shot to try to at least hit her and knock her out. Three didn’t have the desire to kill, she only did it if she had to and she didn’t believe this was the time…for some reason. Something was telling her not to kill this Octoling, and she decided to react positively to whatever that thing was that was telling her to go easy. She couldn’t describe the feeling, but from past experiences, she learned to listen to it.

The Octoling threw her burst bomb and missed Three. However, splatter from the bomb inked portions of her face and the burning and stinging came back once again. Three shot at the Octoling and was able to create a sort of ring around her to trap her. Ha! Once you’re in enemy ink, you slow down. Time to throw a bomb at her. Three found ground on the platform in the middle of the stage and threw a couple of splat bombs at the Octoling. …Who dodged them both. Not even a scratch! _What the fuck!? This Octoling is…oh Cod._

Three decided to just keep shooting at her, she’ll get better luck while just doing that if she was sure to refill her tank every once and a while. She tends to forget that at times and in the end, she’ll suffer the consequences because of it, like getting splatted. Which she was not ready for at that moment, for there were no nearby spawn points underground…at least she didn’t think so.

During her battle with this Octoling, she noticed that the ground tended to bend whenever she took a step. She only weighed like 130 pounds, there was no way she was making the damn floor cave in. It was starting to make her worry though. Maintaining eye contact with the Octoling as much as she could, she did her best to avert her gaze every once and a while to the floor beneath her and beneath the Octoling. She concluded that the Octoling was experiencing the same exact thing. Concaving floor with every step. Maybe the stage wasn’t stable or something.

The Octoling took her by surprise and blew a burst bomb from afar, most of the residue hitting Three at the back of the head with enough force to knock something loose. It sent her to the ground and her weapon sliding out of her hands and far away in front of her. She looked up the best she could, searing pain pounding through her head. If she couldn’t get to her weapon, it was over. She crawled to get to it but felt a sudden pain in her back.

The damn Octoling stepped on her. Just like in the movies.

She started speaking in some language Three couldn’t understand- oh wait, it’s Octarian. Three guessed what she was saying was that she'd won.

She can’t win. Three needed to win.

Luckily, Three remembered some hand-to-hand combat during agent training. She took her arm and hit the Octoling’s shin, HARD. It worked, as the Octoling removed her foot from Three’s back and stumbled backward. Three went quick and grabbed the Octoling by her ankle, which made her fall. Using her leg to kick her own weapon back over to her and then using her free hand to smack the Octoling’s weapon out of her hand, she assumed a pinned position over the Octoling.

That’s right. Three was gonna win. She never loses.

Although everything still hurt, so she had to make this quick. “Let’s get this over with.”

There had been word or rather one single rumor from Cap’n Cuttlefish that the Octolings are being brainwashed. That was the entire reason that she came down into the underground in the first place, to learn about this organization called Kamabo. An organization that had a history of suspicious activity, and when researched and put together right, was the pinpoint of all terrible punishments, therapies, experiments, and what have you where big populations of Octolings lived. As the Cap’n and Three talked, they got closer and closer to coming to the conclusion that this organization, Kamabo, was the reason behind the ‘evil Octolings’. However, Cap’n was skeptical, because he still believes that it was partially his fault. Three was confused.

“Why the hell would it be your fault?”

“Ah kiddo. The Great Turf War. Have you read the scroll. It was cool ‘cause it had me in it and I’ve never been in a scroll before, heck I’ve never been on TV…well except for this one time-“

“Cap’n. Focus.” _He’s so old. _“What about The Great Turf War again? I don’t remember.”

“Well… as you know, there was a Great Turf War-“

“Uh huh.” Three said in annoyance.

“And the Captain of the Octolings was a man named Octavio. You know him as DJ Octavio. We were friends. We got along pretty well. But then, he thought he knew more than I did and he thought that I thought I knew more than he did and I thought that he thought that-“

“SO BASICALLY-“ Three couldn’t handle the foolishness. They were on a time crunch. “You two had a disagreement and you both unleashed your forces upon the opposing team. That’s stupid as shit. “Why couldn’t ya’ll work out your differences and just have a ‘good ol’ time’?” Three cleared her throat “As you usually say?”

“Well, it’s because he talked bad about the SquidBeak Splatoon. He talked bad about our forces, our training, and how small and less muscular the Inklings were than the Octolings. And he wasn’t joking about it either. See, if you talk bad about SquidBeak, you gotta face my old man powers. Well, back then I wasn’t old, but…I was mature enough to think like a wise elder.”

Three rolled her eyes. All this war and hatred over-

“However, there were complications between different groups that had a mix of Octolings and Inklings. No one really got along, it’s like there was turmoil in the air. It was odd.”

Once again. All this war and hatred because of the lack of good fucking communication. No wonder everyone says Inkling brains are so small. (Despite the Inkling biology saying they’re **literally **small) Three told the Cap’n that it wasn’t…all…his fault and they left it at that, contemplating and planning what they should do to safely search the underground to get a clear view of what actually was happening to the Octolings.

Three already reported before that she felt like the heard screaming underneath her when she would enter battle sometimes. The screaming would replay in her mind for a while after that, sending constant chills down her spine. That was almost 2 years ago.

It wasn’t long before Cap’n Cuttlefish and Three agreed to visit the underground. Three packed her weapon, a few specials in cans, an extra pair of clothes, her hero jacket and shoes. She also packed her phone, money, and three things canned food just in case she needed it, as those were important necessities. All into a smallish bag that she could carry on her back. She dressed comfortably in her underclothes, specifically underclothes for her agent outfit. Just a simple black long sleeve shirt, her shorts, and her favorite black boots. Cap’n Cuttlefish carried money and that was it. He knew he’d be fine with just that.

The journey into the underground was a hard one. It was blockaded off by tape, grates, and metal objects… They didn’t go that way though! They went the way they knew. Through Octo Valley. Pick a grate and find your destination from that grate with the map provided. Easy. Less darkness, less metal to destroy.

Cap’n Cuttlefish trusted Three to lead the way to where they needed to be if they were going to investigate, they needed to be at a hidden place that they could report to whenever they needed to. So, this place called DeepSea Metro was their best bet. Once they got there, they were greeted by a small blue fellow named C.Q Cumber. He talked a lot about his service but Three wasn’t interested. Cap’n Cuttlefish was though, he was intrigued by how nice C.Q was. He was also intrigued by the number of species among the underground. Odd, but not too odd. Not like he ‘saw’ species though.

“Oh yeah. No, I don’t think old Inklings get arthritis.” Cap’n Cuttlefish said, talking to a random stranger. “None of us…really have…bones…?”

What really caught Three’s eye, was the Octoling in dark shades that kept staring at her from a distance in the corner of the metro. Now THAT was odd. The Octoling went back behind the corner, disappearing completely.

Three narrowed her eyebrows at the Octoling. “Cap’n, I’ll be back. I’mma check something out.” She said, as she walked towards the corner of the metro.

“Okay kid! Don’t be too long.” He said. Although he was quite distracted, as he found a few friends in the metro who he could spark conversation with.

Three walked toward the corner, into a dark hallway. “Aw shit. I’m definitely gonna turn around now. Don’t wanna tonight.” She didn’t want ‘Agent dies in a dark alley’ on the news. They would go in and talk about how fucking dumb it was to walk into a dark alley alone and stay there. Three was about to turn around and head back when she heard the burst of a burst bomb splat behind her. She turned around and looked at the ground. Purple-ish…dark pink-ish…whatever the hell that color was…ink. She backed up, her hand at her side where her weapon was.

It’s like she missed an entire moment of her life because before she knew it, she was grabbed, dragged and flung onto a stage. The stage made a clicking noise and began to rise up and before Three, stepped the Octoling who was peering at her from the corner. She was taller than Three, about 5’7, she was darkly tanned, like the color of caramel, her tentacles were short and curled at the ends and she wore a leather outfit that…had to be hot. It was almost 100 degrees and this chick was wearing leather! How did she not have a heat stroke!?

The Octoling made a bucking motion at Three and that’s when the fight happened, ending with Three and a pinned Octoling.

“Let’s get this over with.” Was the last thing she said before both she and the Octoling were met with a surprise. The floor broke beneath them, causing them both to fall. Three got ahold of the Octoling’s glasses by ripping them off her face before she was entirely separated from the Octoling as they both fell. She watched as the Octoling grabbed at the air and then was unconscious.

Then all of a sudden, a wall blocked formed between them, separating them. Three didn’t know if the Octoling was okay, and frankly…she felt like she didn’t care. All she cared about was if she was going to survive this fall herself. Granted, Inklings and Octolings didn’t have bones, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t die from a long fall, and quite frankly…not ever Inkling was a master at Squid Jumping in mid-air. That requires intense strength and courage that Three knew she didn’t have. So she braced herself for the fall. Assuming a position of impact and trying to slow herself down with the wall next to her, which she guessed it was…working?

Nevertheless, she landed safely, with a few minor bruises and a headache. And in an unknown place. Holding the Octoling’s glasses.


	2. Chapter 2: Green

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh why am I writing dark stufffffff??? Well, in all honesty, I don't think it's that dark. I guess the humor/comedy that I attempted to put in here kinda I guess...made it not so dark. I dunno. Tell me what you guys think of it, honestly. I proud of this, but it's very different for me and I'm getting used to writing Agent Three without Agent Eight and Agent Four. It's fun, but it's hard when she doesn't have those guys to bounce her personality off of. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this new chapter, it took me an entire day to write it (I had nothing to do with my life today, lol)  
Love you guys uwu  
P.S. This chapter is kinda long, more than 3,000 words...I apologize! XD And...I made some jokes in here I'm proud of. XD

Agent Three was surprised she was able to remember how to land correctly when falling from a high place. Agent work really paid off.

Cap’n Cuttlefish was probably worried about her, she should call him. Luckily, Three still had her small bag. She placed it aside when she was fighting the Octoling and she was lucky to have it fall with her and not with the Octoling. _Damn, I forgot I had this. I hope nothing bro- aw fuck._

Unfortunately, during the fall, a few things in her bag broke, her phone screen and her agent headset. Her phone was broken, and it was malfunctioning to the point where it was useless. She would have to get a new one later. She checked her headset, cracked slightly…it probably still worked. NSS’s tools and technology was always ahead of its time and it was guaranteed that it would work better than any other brand made technology would. Three placed the headset on her head and turned a nob at the back of it.

“Cap’n? Cap’n!” she took it off and tried turning the nob again and pressing a few buttons. “Damn old man has to be able to hear me-“ she put it back on again. “Cap’n!?”

Cap’n Cuttlefish was occupied with the strangers on the Deepsea Metro, there had been commotion after a Octoling was seen lying on the ground, unconscious, not too far from the Metro. He was about to get up and check it out when he heard the slightest call from his pocket. “_Cap- uttlefish!”_

“Oh oh! Glad I caught that!” he picked up the small device that was supposed to be connected to every agent’s headset. It was a phone-sized device, made by Sheldon, that no matter how far the host holding the device went, the agents could still communicate. It’s just…no one could remember what it was called because Sheldon’s dumbass thought it was okay to give it a long and complicated name. No one bothered to even attempt to pronounce it.

_“Cap’n Cutt-ish! An-me!”_

Three? “Three? Three? Where are you?” he answered her.

The connection kept going in and out. _“I don-ow. But-“_

“Are you okay?”

_“Yes! I’ve fall- don’t worry-me.”_

“Okay, Three if you can hear me! I think I understand you! Just meet-“

_-Me once-find me! I trust-ou“_

Three could slightly understand, however, the connection was…unstable. Déjà vu.

She decided to put her headset away back in her bag, pick it up and think about how to get back to Cap’n Cuttlefish. But where should she start? Where were the doors? Where were the lights? She thought maybe if she felt around the long dark hallway, she would find a switch or something that could help her. She wondered though, should she just be able to walk out somewhere and arrive back in the Metro? She didn’t walk too far from the Metro when she spotted that Octoling, it was a high up platform…but it wasn’t too many steps from the Metro.

Whatever. Her head still hurt. She didn’t need to think. She didn’t need to understand the placement and mechanics of the underground. She needed to understand how to get back.

The dark hallway turned into a lit hallway. Green light illuminated the end of the hallway where she was headed. She came up to a door and opened it, leading her into a room. A darkly lit room. She walked into it cautiously, slowly closing the door behind her. She looked for a light switch and found one on the wall near the door she came from and it illuminated the entire room, which… woah…

“What the-“ How was Three supposed to describe the room she was in…how? There was so much going on that she just…

Everything was so organized. Everything looked so different from the outside, where the floors were dirty, and everything had an emo gray look to it. This room…this room was nothing like that. This room had a look of interior-decorator-just-wiped-the-entire-room-with-his-or-her-ass-all-over-it look. Damn, everything looked expensive…yet…very doctor like. There were needles, IVs, IV drip bags connected to the IVs, weighing machines, you name it. However, there weren’t any chairs or stretchers, examination tables…like you would see in a hospital.

Three was actually really…interested but…terrified. It reminded her of all those times she was in the hospital as a kid. Of course, she would get sick… but she was mainly there for injuries, terrible injuries… But ahh…Also… aside from all that… a hospital right next to a Metro? Who the hell does that? _Octolings…aren’t they supposed to be smarter than Inklings?_

Three…no matter how stupid it seemed, decided to get physical with the items in the room. She picked up the needles, observing them. She looked at the IV drips…which had green liquid in it… why was everything green. This odd light green color that swirled in every case and bottle in the room. It’s like it was a crucial ingredient to something.

Now Three was about to get really physical. She looked around for a pair of gloves, found some, put them on, opened an IV drip bag and looked inside it. She REALLY didn’t want to touch it but…she wanted to know what this stuff was. What if it was important and she could take it back for investigation for NSS? Cap’n Cuttlefish would be proud, Agents 1 and 2 would…well maybe 1…2 wouldn’t give a shit.

She looked for a small bottle…looking…looking…she found one. Now she can place the liquid from the bag in a protected bottle so it doesn’t explode all over her bag. She started pouring but then due to how clumsy she was, she dropped the rest of the liquid. All over her legs, shoes and the floor. “SHIT. I fucking- ughh.” Three was now agitated. Whoever was going to come in here later was probably gonna do some science shit and figure out it was her who made this mess and she would be in huge trouble. And she didn’t have a sample for investigation. “Dammit! I gotta clean this shit up somehow. I’ll use the towel over there…” Thee recoiled, whatever the liquid was…it smelled awful, she almost gagged while cleaning it. She did the best she could in the cleaning, making sure she wiped away everything. And to make it seem like nothing happened, she threw the bottle and the IV drip bag away. She then cleaned herself off the best she could with water from the nearby sink, cleaning her boots and her legs. Instead, the took a Ziplock bag and put a fingerprint of the green liquid in a bag, along with a needle, put it in her bag, and went on with her investigation.

She looked for the door to get out and found it. Anything to leave this nightmare-inducing and aggravating place. And oh! What do you know! Another room! But with the emo gray tone! She once again stepped in with caution and closed the door behind her gently. She was met with high shelves that hid her from the bright light coming from the middle-side of the room. Three went quietly because she heard footsteps and…whimpers.

“Stop moving.”

More whimpers.

“Initiate Sanitization Process. Number 420.”

There were some button noises, mechanical noises, more footsteps, more whimpers. Three had no idea what was going on, but it made her feel uncomfortable inside. She didn’t dare to pear around the shelves.

“Initiating Sanitization Process. Number 420. 1%...2%...”

“Can you have it be quiet while that’s happening. I don’t need it to keep telling me the percentage, it’s annoying.”

“I don’t know how to do that, just deal with it.”

“You know what Cecilia; you never do anything for me.”

“You know what Peter, you never shut the hell up. Why don’t you do that for me?”

Damn.

“Cecilia, I’m this close to-“

“This close to what? Do you want me to tell everyone in Hypnotization training that when you were younger, you peed in a bowl and put it in the microwave to see what would happen?... Yeah- I didn’t think so.”

“That’s not even that bad.”

“Wait till they figure out how old you were when you did it.”

“Whatever, just…leave it alone and let’s go.”

She didn’t understand a word they said at all. The footsteps started coming towards Three, she panicked and turned into a squid, squeezing herself in between the books on the shelf. Luckily, the two people who were there didn’t go the way she was located. She heard a door close and then nothing… but counting. “12%...13%...” in Octarian

Three turned out of a squid and inched herself out of the shelf. What was going on?

“20%...21%”

The counting continued…and then a whimper was heard, along with sniffling.

_Someone is still here. _Three peered around the corner. She really wanted to turn away once her eyes encountered what was before her. An Octoling, in a lose white jumpsuit, in a chair. She was…a lot like the Octoling that Three fought but she knew that wasn’t her. This Octoling’s hair was longer, which less suctions and it rather took on a blue color. This chair the Octoling was sitting in was a large metal chair, her arms and legs were bonded with metal to the chair. And in the Octoling’s arms…the IV drips…with the green liquid in it. There were other chairs as well with the same look. Behind her was a big screen…she couldn’t read it because it was in Octarian. But the percentage numbers looked similar to the Inkling language, so she did her best to read it.

“34%...35%... I think…it’s going up.”

The Octoling’s head shot up and she got a quick glimpse of Three before Three hid back behind the shelf. “Fuck. I went out too far.” Three was too interested. Now the Octoling knew she was there and maybe even got her face.

“Hey!...Ah…” the Octoling said, but it wasn’t in Octarian. It was in Inkling. “Are you an Inkling?”

Three couldn’t just give herself up like that, but now that the Octoling saw her and now knew she was an Inkling. She had too. And there wasn’t a possibility that the Octoling would hurt her, she was tied to a chair. “Yes.” Three called out before she displayed her entire being in front of the Octoling.

Three observed the Octoling and the Octoling observed Three. Three could take one look at the Octoling and tell that she was deteriorating but she looked very young, maybe about Three’s age or younger. The Octoling looked scared and stressed as well. One thing that definitely stood out was the fact that the Octoling was changing color. Huh? She was becoming green, starting from the areas in her arms where the IVs were. That does look good at all.

The IVs in her arm weren’t placed in properly, some of the green liquid oozed out of the needle and didn’t even go into her arm but Three was sure that some were.

She walked up to the Octoling.

“Please help me. I won’t hurt you, I swear.” The Octoling said. She had been crying, the tear marks were obvious on her face and her purple eyes were bloodshot and she was shaking. She looked as if she was struggling to stay awake. She looked as if she was struggling period. “I **swear.**”

Three was, as she had been this entire time, cautious. In fact, it looked like the Octoling was a tiny bit afraid of Three.

“48%...49%...”

“Please! I promise I won’t hurt you. Once it gets to 70%...it’s over for me.”

To Three, about 90% of the Octoling population was bad. Terrible. They hated Inklings and always deployed their enemies upon the Inkling society whenever they had a chance. DJ Octavio was their leader, he was an ass. But in all seriousness, he was the reason for all of the hurt, heartache, and despair of the Inklings for a long time. The Great Zapfish was a power source. If the power source was gone, people could die. No way to cook food, no way to navigate, no way to drive places since cars ran on energy, no power in hospitals, no heat, no air condition, nothing. DJ Octavio did it for that reason and he did it just because he was selfish. If the Octolings learned from him, they were probably just as selfish and ruthless as he was.

But something inside of Three said that it would be wrong for her to leave this Octoling here while she suffered since the Octoling was young and seemed to have hope in her. Three…would not be able to live with herself, despite what Octolings have done to the Inkling race.

But on the other hand, the Inklings have done a lot of dreadful harm too.

“Okay! Alright…uh…shit.” Three said looking around. “How do I unhook the thingies from your arms and legs?”

“There’s a lever on the back of the chair, just pull it.” She said. Three bent down to look for the lever. She found it and pulled it. It was a tough lever but Three was strong. After that, the obvious thing to do was to stop whatever process was happening. So, Three ripped the IVs out of the Octoling’s arms and apparently, the countdown stopped.

“Sanitization Interrupted.”

The Octoling gazed up at Three with such glee in her face. Three thought her smile was going to pop off her face. Without warning, the Octoling jumped up and hugged Three.

_Physical…contact…ahhhhhhhhhh_

Three hesitantly hugged the Octoling back. Once Three got a good look at her, she didn’t seem so bad. She was extra smiley and high-strung. Her bright purple eyes were wide with happiness. And boy…was she tall… she got a good 4 inches on Three and Three was about 5’6. “Thank you so much. I dunno what would have happened if- well…I DO know I just… ah thank you!” she kept her hands clamped on Three’s arms, which also made Three uncomfortable.

_Physicallll contaaaaact…_

“Am I scaring you?”

“Naw Naw.” Three cleared her throat and shook the Octoling off gently. “You’re fine just…don't be so touchy.”

“Sorry. Hugs are awesome. Hugs are the best kind of…I guess…gifts of sentiment and care.” She put her hands down. “I’m Umiko by the way. It means ‘Child of the Sea’.”

Three honestly didn’t care but whatever. “I’m Three. It’s a number. Nice to meet you.”

Umiko nodded and continued to smile at Three. There was a brief moment of silence that dreaded upon them before Three began to shift off. “Well, I better get going. I gotta find my…someone. I’m kinda lost.”

“Oh! You are lost? You could contact the Metro personnel! They know their way around this entire area, and they navigate regularly. It’s quite confided but it’s easy to navigate once you get the hang of the map.”

Uhh… “You speak really good Inkish for an Octoling.” Three mentioned.

“Oh uh…” Umiko chuckled. “Thanks. I had time to study it while in Hypnotization Training. That bookshelf over there has a bunch of material about the Inkling culture and language. It’s intriguing if you’re into that stuff. Hehe.”

This Octoling was just too cute.

“Huh.” Three, after looking at the bookshelf, turned back to Umiko. “How old are you? Might I ask…”

“I’m…they told me I was 15 but I really don’t know. They determined my age and then gave me a birthday. They call me 420 because they gave me the birthday of April 20th. It makes things easier.”

“Who are ‘they’?”

“Oh, I apologize for not being clear. ‘They’ are the masters who work under TarTar. TarTar is a highly intelligent AI that was created for the sole purpose of creating a new world for the Octolings to live in. He was created by a scientist more than 12,000 years ago. A human. Humans are cooolll.”

“So, uh… what was that. Like, all this? Like, um…what you just went through?”

“That was…sanitization. The worst form of punishment here. However, the more Octolings that are sanitized, the more progress the Octarian Army makes.”

“And what is it?”

“It’s when…” Umiko swallowed harshly. “It’s when an Octoling…or in some cases…an Inkling…is completely wiped clean of all emotion, feeling, and memory, and become completely under the control of whoever the host is. ‘Host’ as in whoever teaches said sanitized Octoling who their ‘leader’ is. That’s why I thank you for saving meee!”

That sounded…better than what Three was thinking of. But it still sounded bad. She…how was this Octoling so happy? How was she even alive? “Wait, I think I’ve heard of this…” Three said, she walked and sat down in the metal chair, legs crossed.

“You have?” Umiko sat on the arm of the chair next to her.

“Mm hm. Sanitization…hmm…uh… what my people told us is that Sanitization was irreversible. You know, you can’t come back from it…and once it’s in effect…it’s permanent and doesn’t stop.”

“No, ma’am. Since Octoling and Inkling’s bodies are made of up 70% ink, the natural ink in our bodies cease the continuation of in-process sanitization. That’s why I mention the…70%...? Remember?”

“Yeah. Yeah. I do. I think I get it now. Well, I’m glad you’re alive.”

“Because you saved meee!” she reached over for another hug but Three stopped her gently. “What did I say about the touchy-ness…?”

“Sorry.” Umiko jumped up out of her seat and faced Three. “So, where off to next?”

“I gotta find my people. And what I want you to do, is to find a place to hide, away from where you came, okay? I don’t want whoever those people were to find you.”

“Well then um…can I come with ya? If it’s not any trouble. I don’t know where to go.”

“I thought you said you knew this place inside out.”

“No, the personnel do. Weren’t you listening, silly? I mean- I do too but…so does the rest of my people. They’ll probably find me in an instant. Please…can I come with you? Just for the time being until I find out where to go.”

“Fineeeeee. You can come with.”

Umiko went for another hug…once again Three stopped her. “If you fucking try to hug me one more fucking time-“

“Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You have met Umiko! She's an Original Character of mine that I wanted to get out there. She's like 1 out of 10 OCs for Splatoon, but she's the only Splatoon OC of mine that you will see in this story. But I hope you guys like her!


	3. Chapter 3: Leading To The Light, Leading to The Darkness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh! I'm back after...6 days, was it? Yeah, about 6 days. I'm trying to update this as much as possible along with my other story, Color Collison but...it ain't workinnn. I'm starting school a week from tomorrow so...hopefully I'll be able to update every 2-8 days on this story because I have SO MANY IDEAS for this. Too many actually...  
Anyway! Enjoy!  
Also...vomit warning later in the chapter...sorry! It's after (Three jumped. “Hm? Huh? What’s wrong?”), so if you don't wanna read that part, although it's somewhat important to the story, you can skip to (Once again…what the fuck? “What’s the deal with this anyway? Why do they force you guys to do this stuff? Why can’t they just let you live in peace!?”) and read from there to get the idea. But it's not too graphic or anything.  
There may be a few more warnings for chapters to come like small amounts of blood, and stuff like that...I'll be sure to warn ya! This is probably the most intense story I've written but hey...the 'attempted' comedy saves it right? Right???  
ok enjoy... :')

As if traveling alone was hard enough when you didn’t know where to go, traveling with a buddy was even harder. Especially when she said that she was sure she knew the place pretty well.

“I’m sure we passed that by now…it used to be over there…”

Three rolled her eyes. This Octoling had no idea where she was going. How the fuck was she supposed to get out of this place.

Luckily, they left that lab, which had apparently been named, the Sanitization Centre, home of Sanitized Octolings…which in Three’s defense, sounded dark, but Umiko didn’t necessarily want to explain the entire concept of Sanitizing and Inkling and why it happens…and for what. Three decided to stop dwelling on it and let Umiko figure out where to go to get back to the Metro. However, once again…Three was starting to doubt Umiko’s intelligence when she realized that she was lost as well.

And they didn’t have a map. And what’s worse, is they came to a dead-end with four tunnels, each most likely, leading to some unknown place.

“Umiko, where the fuck are we headed? I thought you knew this place!”

“I never said I knew this place… I said it was easy to navigate based on the map. Everything has moved over the past month and I was too stressed to indicate where each building was. I’m sorry.” She said while shaking Three. Three shoved Umiko off and stood in the middle of the grey plane. So, as established before, the area of this plane held 4 different directions, each of them carved into a tunnel. So, they had four choices…choose one tunnel and take it. Three turned to Umiko.

“Umiko.”

“Hmm?”

“Which tunnel do you think is best to take?” _Since she’s the smartypants. _

Umiko stepped forward and examined the tunnels. While doing so, she tried her best to remember where each of them lead. “So um. I know-I’m confident that the tunnel all the way on the right leads back to Hypnotization Camp, which I don’t wanna go back to and it leads you further away from your destination which is unethical. The tunnel…this one, the one second to the left…leads to the Octarian Army Base…which…you probably don’t want to go through eitherrrrr…hmmmmmm ahhhhh…I can’t remember anythinnggg…”

Three let out a huge sigh. “I’M NEVER GONNA GET OUTTA HERE.”

“Wait…enclose your exasperation for a moment…”

“Enclose my fuckin…what?”

“And refrain from any foul jargon.”

“What the hell are you-“

“Please remain tranquil and formulate imperturbability, Three!”

“WHAT THE FU-“

“Haha. Ah! I remember! Oo! The one all the way on the left leads you closer to the Metro, however…it’s the long way around. Heheh.” She gave Three an awkward smile. Three responded visually with a fake smile but deep down, she was grateful for the fact that she had someone who could lead her out and towards her goal.

“Mmkay.” Three said, she started to walk into the tunnel. “Let’s take this way then.”

Umiko nodded and hopped along behind Three.

It was dark, no doubt, and Three’s phone was broken so she couldn’t use the built-in flashlight. She should’ve brought a flashlight just in case…but she wasn’t correctly prepared. The only light that was illuminating the darkness was her luminescent tentacle pads and tips, which glowed an extra bright light green, the main color of her tentacles, just a tad lighter. Umiko found this intriguing and went to touch the tips of Three’s tentacles but Three’s body language let Umiko know to refrain from that action. Dammit. At least she got to see it. It was so pretty.

Things started to get a bit brighter in the tunnel, as built-in lights at the top of the tunnel finally made an appearance. They could see! Nonetheless, they couldn’t see the end of the tunnel. “How long are these tunnels?” Three asked.

“About a mile.”

_So now I gotta walk a whole Coddamn mile? Well, I have been gaining a bit of weight in my thighs so…whatever. I just hope I don’t pass out._

“Sooooo…” Umiko broke the sudden silence between them. “What’s Inkopolis like? I’ve heard a lot about it but they don’t like to talk too much about it in the books.”

“Hm. Where do I start?” Three loved Inkopolis…anything to leave her fa… just…anything to get away. “Well. It’s always sunny there. Rainbows, puppies, unicorns that fart more unicorns and candy that rains from the sky.”

“That’s… improbable. But I would love that!!!”

“Haha. You’re right. It’s usually sunny, it rains every once in a while and-“

“Don’t you guys melt in rain?”

“Naw Naw. We just can’t swim. When it rains, everyone goes berserk though because of possible floods and stuff but that barely happens. Everyone there is so nice though, there are a bunch of cool people that’ll do anything for you. Then you’ve got the store clerks like…Sheldon. Well, Sheldons an annoying dipshit but…we still love him. He just talks too much…like Four…” Three chuckled to herself.

Umiko tilted her head. “Who’s Four?”

“A friend of mine. She’s…also an annoying dipshit but…she’s done so much for me. She’s really nice, you’d love her if you met her.”

“I bet I would. I’ll never make it to the surface though. That’s just a dream of mine…”

“You don’t think you would? Why not?”

“I’m not strong enough to get up there.”

“Bullshit. You’ve got what it takes. You can leave this shithole whenever you want to.”

Umiko looked at Three with a half-smile, eyebrows furrowed. All she did was shrug. “Ah…”

“Tell you what. I’ll help you get the surface once I find my Captain. We’ll be happy to help you.”

Umiko’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

“Yeah, dude.”

Umiko started jumping up and down, bouncing rapidly, fumbling with words that didn’t even make their way out of her mouth. “I- I can’t- you- yes- holy-“ then some squeaking noises came out, which crept Three the hell out.

“Aight, calm down. Let’s keep going.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Don’t call me ma’am.”

“Yes Three.”

Three chuckled. Three wasn’t usually one to take a liking to people so quickly, but she enjoyed the company of Umiko. She reminded her of Four…subtracting the name-calling and mischievous activity and possible lawbreaking. Three listened to whatever Umiko had to say as they walked the tunnel because apparently, she was full of stories and hypothetical questions, which Three minded asking but she just decided to let Umiko do her thing, she was excited and hopeful and the last thing Three wanted to do was deprecate someone’s dreams. Unless it was a joke…then it was funny… Ugh, Three was an asshole sometimes.

After a few minutes, Three noticed that Umiko had stopped talking and was walking a bit behind Three. She didn’t think much of it, maybe that Umiko was tired? She was bouncing and talking a lot. She left it alone…only until Umiko came to her and began talking again.

“Three is it hot in here? Do you think the heat is very asphyxiating? Wait no, that’s a harsh way to put it- it’s just…it’s hot! Wooo…”

What? It was cold in the tunnels to Three and Umiko didn’t say anything about any heat earlier, she looked just peachy!

“I don’t think it’s hot. But… Uh… do you have anything on underneath your jumpsuit?”

Umiko giggled nervously. “Hahaaaa. No… they don’t let us put anything on underneath it.”

“…Ew. That’s fucking stupid.” Three stopped walking. “Maybe we can stop for a bit so you can cool down.”

“Okay.” Umiko leaned up against the wall, fanning herself. “I wish I could take this jumpsuit off.” She tugged at her white jumpsuit, eventually using the collar for a fan. Three stayed standing in the middle of the tunnel, alert, just to make sure no one will get near them or attempt to harm them. Overtime, Umiko didn’t stop fanning herself…in fact, she did it even more and started sweating. That’s when Three started to get worried.

“Are-Are you okay?”

“I-I guess. It’s just really hot…”

“I have water in my bag if you need it.”

“No thank you. I don’t think I can-“ she started breathing heavily. And Three was hella worried. What was happening? Three was positive it was at least only 50 degrees or less in that tunnel.

“Why can’t you? You probably haven’t drunk anything in a while, have you?” Three asked, abut to dig in her bag.

“No, I haven’t but…Three… I’m starting to feel nauseous.”

_Fuckkkkkkkkk. Why? Why now? What am I supposed to do?_

“Okay. UH. HM. Just sit down or something, okay?”

Umiko nodded and then slid down the wall and sat there, still as a statue. Three watched her closely and she was actually thoroughly worried. She couldn’t quite pinpoint what she was worried about either, because she knew that possibly nothing could happen to this young Octoling now, she just knew she was because her eye started twitching, which usually happened whenever she was subconsciously or even consciously worried.

“Three…” Umiko said after a while.

Three jumped. “Hm? Huh? What’s wrong?”

“I think I’m going to throw up.”

_Aw gross. _“Oh…okay. Just, do your thing? Don’t choke, don’t die. It’s definitely not a good way to go.” Three didn’t know what to say in this situation but at least she said something... She watched as Umiko positioned herself in a sidesaddle position and before either of them knew it, she threw up. And geez, it was not good for Umiko but it was worse for Three. Three reached out a hesitant hand and placed it on the back of the sick Octoling and rubbed in circles to comfort her. What boggled Three’s mind was that all Umiko threw up was identical to the same green liquid that Three saw in the labs. Odd.

Umiko finished after a couple of minutes and looked up at Three with bloodshot eyes. “I um…I think… I’m all good now.” She tried her best to chuckle it off and attempt to stand up but it didn’t work.

“Are you sure? You don’t look ‘all good’.”

“I think. I…I think that was just a relapsed side effect of the sanitization or something…”

Relapse? “What do you mean?”

“They uh, made me consume the sanitization ink before they inserted some of it into my body.” She coughed a bit.

_Once again…what the fuck? _“What’s the deal with this anyway? Why do they force you guys to do this stuff? Why can’t they just let you live in peace!?”

“It’s…complicated. I don’t even know myself.”

Three groaned and rubbed her face in frustration. She tried to regain her composure and not dwell too much on the negative, she didn’t have time to think about everything wrong with the underground now. “Well…” she turned back around to face Umiko who was still on the ground. “Are you going to be okay?” she asked firmly.

“Yeah I will… my stomach hurts now though.”

“Can you walk?”

There was a brief pause. “…Maybe…”

Three could see the strain and pain on her face. She shook her head. “Bullshit. I’m carrying you.”

“Aww… you’re so sweet, Three. Thanks. You little sweetie sweetie you.”

“Whatever. Come on. I’ll carry you on my back. So, can you put my bag on yours?”

“Sure.” Umiko grabbed Three’s bag and placed it on her back and then slowly, but surely, hopped onto Three’s back.

“Let’s keep going.” Three said.

They continued to venture down the tunnel, still unsure of their current destination but Three was at least a little hopeful.

She started to picture Cap’n Cuttlefish, Four, Callie and Marie…an most of Inkopolis. She didn’t really have anything else to think about. As she dozed off thinking, however, she noticed that the tunnel was starting to get darker again, with a light appearing on the ceiling of the tunnel less often. It was giving Three the chills and she surely felt unprepared because her hero shot was in her bag and not on her hip.

Umiko was starting to get heavy too. Three felt weak, physically weak. She felt that she should have been able to carry an Octoling that probably weighed about the same she did for a long period. She had to keep going though, there was no point in stopping when they were already marching towards their goal.

“Three…” Umiko said, her voice muffled in Three’s neck.

“Yeah?”

“…Hurts…”

“What? What hurts?”

“Everything.”

_Well that’s very descriptive. _“Can you…I don’t know…elaborate?”

“Everything hurts.”

“I need you to like, explain?”

“Just…everything…hurts.”

Three sighed and stopped dead in her tracks.

“Why’d we stop?” Umiko asked.

“I think we both need to rest, well…mainly you.” Three placed Umiko down gently on the ground and she sat up against the wall and stared at Three. “Hand me my bag.”

Umiko did as she was told. “What are you doing, Three?”

“I’m getting prepared for any surprise attacks. Fuckers down here are ruthless apparently.”

“I want to keep going,” Umiko whined.

“I thought you said, ‘everything hurts’.”

“It does but…I don’t want to stop, It gives me chills and would most likely cause anxiety for both of us. Short term anxiety.”

Three, still rummaging in her bag, pulled out her weapon and used the hero clip provided to place it on her hip. She then shoved her bag over to the side near Umiko, leaned up against the wall in front of her, and crossed her arms…just to look badass. In Three’s mind, it was working. In Umiko’s mind, it was the most adorable thing. She chuckled a bit which leads Three to avert her eyes to the Octoling. “What?”

“You are trying to look contentious, why?” Umiko said, still smiling.

“Contentious?”

“Aggressive.”

Three shrugged. “People are intimidated by this back at home. People don’t mess with me when I put a mean mug on my face and cross my arms. I also got a nose piercing, but I did that because I like it. But in the end, it makes me look even more intimidating.”

“Where is the nose piercing?”

“Back at home. I don’t wanna rip my nose apart down here. What if I get into a fight or somethin’…what am I supposed to do? Hook em’ with the ring? I don’t think so.”

Umiko laughed. “You’re so cool, Three.”

“Thanks. You too.” Umiko smiled at Three. Such a large smile. Umiko smile turned into an expression of sickness and she started to gag. “You okay?” Three asked.

“My stomach still hurts… and I’m trying not to throw up again. It’s discomforting.”

“I know. That’s why we stopped. To rest. But also, don’t…fucking…hold in your vomit. That’s gross. If you need to let it out, let it out.” Three shivered a bit and then crossed her arms, looking at everything but Umiko.

Umiko hummed to let Three know she understood. Umiko shimmied up the wall and laid backward more, trying to get comfortable.

Three looked at her and sighed. “Well…like I said. I stopped here so that we could rest. I’ll be on the lookout, you nap…or something.”

“Aren’t you going to sleep?”

“No, it’s fine. I can sleep later. If anything happens, I’m here. I’ll protect both of us.”

Umiko nodded. She believed Three, she didn’t have a reason not to.

So for the rest of the night, Umiko napped against the tunnel wall while Three just stood up against it with her weapon at her hip. She watched Umiko and she watched the perimeter. Hoping nothing will surprise them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you guys like Umiko? I like Umiko...That sounded cocky...Umiko is my character XD. Anyway! Give me some ideas or criticism/praise, because I thrive off of that. It helps to keep me going! Love you guys!  
Also, there is some action on the way! Don't worry, I'm just trying to get things moving along! Expect some fighting scenes, chasing scenes and more in the chapters to come after this one my dudes!


	4. Chapter 4: The Three Degenerates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this is so long! ajdksjfladkjlg The next on will be shorter! I just have so many ideas!!!  
I hope you guys are liking this though! I'm really proud of it, this chapter...I actually wrote 100% awake.
> 
> Also ahhh blood mention near the end of the story! Just be warned! You can skip it, but it's important! Between (A shrill scream was heard echoing across the tunnels…perhaps past the tunnels) and (“Oh my Cod!,) so you can begin after (“Oh my Cod!) if you are sensitive to blood.
> 
> I'm sorry about the anggsstt! Splatooners love annggsstttt! LMAO, I'm just trying to fit in. XD :')

_She’s too strong._

_I don’t want to kill her. I have no reason to._

_Why is she doing this?_

_I mean- she is wearing the…glasses. She has to be hypnotized. She’s probably harmless without those on._

_The glasses._

_What do I do? _

_I guess I must kill her._

Three woke up. Dammit, she had dozed off. She promised to stay awake in case anyone attacked her or Umiko, which luckily, Umiko was still there…but what if she wasn’t? She’d be in deep shit.

Three stretched and got up off the ground, her weapon at her hip banging against the cartilage. She could regard that Umiko was still asleep, catching as many ‘Zs’ as possible. Three felt bad for the Octoling, and she had never felt bad for an Octoling before, most likely because of their efforts to kill Inkling kind and take away their most prized possession that basically powers the entire city. Three sat back down on the ground and decided to rummage around in her bag out of boredom. She pulled out her cape that had the number ‘3’ on it. The Captain had made it for her a few months before and Three never let it out of her sight, she didn’t even wash it.

The cap was already ripped at the bottom. A few missions ago, she had been burned, whipped, attacked with different colors of ink contradicting hers and has fallen from pretty high heights. She was clearly as tough as nails, but she didn’t want to always be busting her ass on a daily basis.

But hey, that’s what Agent Work is all about. That’s what SquidBeak is all about. That and protecting Inkopolis.

Three put her cape down next to Umiko and then pulled out the glasses, the glasses she pulled off the Octoling that attacked her. Observing them, she realized that they weren’t the same color as when they were on the Octoling’s face. They were a dark-ish shade of red on one side when they were on the Octoling and now they were just black with a slide fade of red dispersing across the glass. They were cracked as well…probably from Three’s fall. The entire reason that Three was in the underground was because of these glasses. Cap’n Cuttlefish had told her that Kamabo, a ‘harmless’ organization, has been doing some shady shit and it was up to him and Three, apparently SquidBeak’s top agent, to investigate and figure out what’s going on. Cuttlefish mentioned glasses…mainly because after Three and Four had met, Marie had talked to Cuttlefish about the glasses and how they were different from when Three had the battle with Octavio 2 years ago. And…on top of that…Callie was brainwashed with said glasses. The glasses on Callie just looked hella cooler because they had, as Callie described, ‘damn pretty rainbows’ on it. Three was listening in the entire time, she wasn’t really interested in what Four had to talk about…which Cap’n Cuttlefish chastised her about later.

She couldn’t help that she just didn’t like talking to people.

Three placed the glasses back in the bag and zipped it up. She sat back and sighed. She felt that she wasn’t going to get back home to Cap’n…

_I should wake up Umiko. _“Aye. Umiko?” she said as she gently shook Umiko. Umiko opened her eyes and blinked a few times. She tilted her head and looked at Three with a smile. “You have bags under your eyes,” Umiko said.

“So?”

“They make you look older.”

“Wha-“

“How old are you anyway?”

“I’m 16, almost 17.”

“You look like you’re in your twenties-“

“Shut up. I didn’t get that much sleep.” Three pushed herself off the ground and picked up her bag. “I basically just napped because I was looking out for your ass.”

Umiko giggled.

Three turned around, crossed her arms, and rolled her eyes. “Do you need help getting up? Are you still feeling sick?”

Umiko shook her head. “I’m fine.” She pushed herself off the ground and hopped up to face Three. “I appreciate your kindness. You’re really cordial.”

Three raised an eyebrow.

Umiko scoffed playfully. “‘Nice’ silly.”

Three nodded. “Hmm. Don’t get used to it. I’m just here to get back to my Captain and then do my job.” She began walking towards the end of the tunnel and Umiko followed.

“You’re definitely here for more than that. I can tell.”

“What the hell else do you think I’m here for?”

“…Us.” Her big grin was an indication of pure innocence and belief in a person of a different species she had just met that day.

“I’m not here for- I’m- I do- It’s… whatever. Let’s just go.” Three walked a bit faster in front of Umiko. Umiko walked happily behind her. “Get in front of me just in case someone comes from behind or above. Then I have time to get to you.” She said to Umiko, grabbing her arm and placing her in front.

After a couple of minutes, they came across another similar area of the tunnel where it splits into more tunnels. Three was really starting to get agitated about that, it was all too confusing! “Oh my fucking Cod.” She rubbed her face in frustration.

“I uh…I’m not sure about where to goooo…I’m trying to think and calculate our amount of miles…the turns…the possible variation and placement of the tunnels from the metro and the Sanitization Center…………..I apologize Three…I don’t know where we may be or where we should head.”

“Cod. DAMMIT. I’m never going to get out of here!” she groaned loudly.

“It’s- it’s okay, Three…” she said reaching out to touch Three’s shoulder but Three shrugged her off.

“Hey! Who are you!?” A voice said from out of nowhere. It echoed across the acoustics of the tunnels and reached Umiko and Three. It sent a shiver down both of their spines and Three didn’t even understand what the voice said. Umiko grabbed Three quickly and Three grabbed her weapon on her hip and looked around for where the voice came from. Umiko’s grip on Three tightened but Three wasn’t even thinking about that. All she wanted to know was where this voice was coming from and how she was going to kick their ass.

“Hey! You!” it echoed again. This time it sounded, more like a bunch of people.

“Three…where-?”

“Shh!” Three took her weapon off her hip and backed up slowly with Umiko still corral on Three’s arm tightly. She turned to her. “Can you turn into an octopus? Maybe you can fit in my bag.” She whispered.

“I’ll suffocate! There is no way that I can inhale in such a converged area!”

“I’ll keep it slightly open. I just need you to-“ Three finally saw who was speaking to them not too far from the tunnel. She could see silhouettes, three of them exactly. She was slightly terror-stricken. “Get the fuck in the bag, Umiko.”

Umiko turned into an octopus and slid into Three’s bag. As Three mentioned earlier, she kept it slightly open for Umiko to slide her head in and out as she please, and for breathing of course. Three began to run. She didn’t care where…she just needed to run. She didn’t think that facing the group head-on was a good idea.

“I think facing them head-on is a good idea!”

Three rolled her eyes as she ran, slightly turning her head to talk to Umiko in her bag. “What makes you think that? I can lose them by running, I’m pretty fast.”

“That doesn’t matter, you’re leaving prints on the ground. Octolings have advanced technology to track you down. Not just from liberated tracks, but from your thoughts of action and your sense. And Three…you have a really strong smell.”

“Are you saying I stink?”

“…Yeah.”

_Cod Fucking Damn. Is it wrong for an Inkling to skip a day of washing or two?_

“Fine. I’ll stop.” She skidded in her tracks. In a matter of 10 seconds, she put down her bag with Umiko in it, who hid deeply inside, readied her weapon and commenced in her known hero stance for ready battle. “Come at me you bastards.”

The three silhouettes approached her more slowly this time, arising from the darkness and revealing their faces and pallets. One of them, tall-ish light-skinned with dark green eyes, another one, shorter than the first one brown-ish skin, pink eyes with green irises…odd but cool, the other one, the only girl, brown-ish skin, one black eye, one pink one, the same height as the second boy. All of them wearing Octoling gear, which seemed to be made up of…metal? How uncomfortable. But…it worked.

The girl Octoling laughed…and what a deranged laugh it was, like a stereotypical villain in the movies or overexaggerated cartoons. Her laughs turned into rapid exhales. Her eyes widening as her head turned to the side.

“Ew. What the fuck is wrong with that chick? Ya’ll feed her crack?” Three said. “And what’s wrong with this one? Expressionless much? Hellooo? Earth to creepy-ass looking Octoling who’s probably seen some dark shit? You see your best friends having sex or something? Is this why you looking like that?”

The second Octoling stared, blinking every once in a while.

All of them collectively growled and continued to get closer and closer to Three. “Get any closer and I’ll blow your brains out.”

And so suddenly, the tall Octoling lunged at her. Three dodged and crossed him from around, kicking him in the back, bringing him down. The girl lunged at her next, her arms outreached and laughing that same…deranged…laugh. Three took her hands and swung her around, however, her reflexes were lightning fast and she was able to kick Three’s legs out from behind, which gave the taller Octoling time to tackle her. Three grabbed her weapon and shot low tide ink at the Octoling’s chest which sent him tumbling over Three, unconscious.

Three was able to get up and observe her options, and wonder why the other Octoling wasn’t fighting…but she kept a close eye on him. There wasn’t much time to think at all…just fight the standing Octoling(s).

Umiko was watching the entire time. Not sure what to do.

The girl Octoling punched Three square in the face and kneed her in the gut which made Umiko jump and Three fall backward, but she was okay. She came back with a punch in return straight to the Octoling’s gut which was very successful. However, Three noticed the Octoling’s fast reflexes and was sure to dodge to whichever direction she could to get out of the view of the Octoling, so she rolled to the side and sidestepped further away from her.

The Octoling laughed again.

“What?” Three wiped the blood from her mouth. “Is that it?”

The Octoling disregarded her question, or at least to Three’s thought. She instead reached behind her and pulled out a knife. A pocketknife. A sharp…pocketknife. The Octoling that was standing by threw a small chip at the girl Octoling, who caught it. There was a menacing look on the girls face as she stepped closer and closer to Three.

“What the fuck is that?”

Three was terrified. She never, never in her life, was approached with a knife. She quickly took her weapon and shot low tide ink at the Octoling’s hand but she dodges it, leaving Three’s with not the best vision because of the clash of colors against the dark gray of the tunnel…but she also just happened to get ink in her eye somehow. The Octoling lunged for Three with the knife, grazing her temporarily exposed torso in the process, leaving a long cut. Her shirt had come up while she was dodging, leaving the skin open for anything.

Three sucked in air through her teeth, cringing at the pain, but not focusing on it. All she wanted to know…was what was that chip? And…was Three gonna make it out of here alive…?

She can’t think like that. She had years of training. She was Agent Three!

Three continued to shoot at the Octoling. Every shot lead to the Octoling dodging to the side, to the left, to the right, downward…everywhere!

Then…the weapon was knocked out of Three’s hand and the next thing she felt…was her head, her back, her legs against the cold tunnel ground. Above her, on top of her, the Octoling, forcing the knife down upon her. Three struggled to keep the knife away from her face and from her body in general.

Umiko…still on the side…watching.

“Ah…Umiko...!” Three said with a grunt, trying her best to keep the knife away from her. “I need you…to run.”

“What?”

“Run! Fucking run!”

Umiko shook her head. “NO! Why would I do that?”

“B-because… even… though they are trying t-to…kill…me…” Three tried forcing the Octoling off of her. “They could…g-get y-you… if I die-“

“No! You won’t die! No. No. N-No… Three- Three- Thr-“

…

A shrill scream was heard echoing across the tunnels…perhaps past the tunnels.

That shrill scream came from Three. The knife in her arm, blood spilling out slowly. Tears forming at the corner of her eyes. She didn’t have the power to let out another scream once the knife was taken out by force.

**A chill went down Umiko’s spine. She just witnessed her friend get stabbed…by her own kind… and she did nothing. No one thing was done. She felt like she let her down. The first friend she had ever had…the one who she felt close too. How could she fail at her first partnership? How could she learn to live again…to love again…if the one she had cared for the first time in her life was bleeding out at the hands of her own. **

**Something…something was pulling her…her feet were moving but her brain didn’t tell them too. Her blood was boiling…everything felt hot. Everything around her was…collapsing? There were black circles enclosing the world around her and the only thing she could see was the hurt look on Three’s face and the satisfied look on the Octoling’s face…fiddling with the chip in her hand as she moved it towards Three’s wound.**

**She wasn’t going to let her touch Three again. **

**A shrill scream was heard echoing the tunnels…perhaps past the tunnels.**

**That shrill scream came from the Octoling girl who had hurt Three…and all Umiko could see was two unconscious Octoling’s, one Octoling…short-circuiting?…and Three…**

“Oh my Cod! Three.” Umiko ran to Three’s side, bending down to her as she observed the wound.

Three was breathing slowly…but heavily. One stray tear falling from her face but Three knew damn well she was trying to hide her true feelings. She forced a crooked smirk at Umiko. “No…no…it’s okay. I’m fine.”

“Are you stupid? You’re losing a lot of blood and you say you’re fine? Preposterous.”

Three’s pupils were slowly becoming more and more dilated. “Why are you now speaking…like a…like a…what the fwuak? What the fwuak and I’m tryin’ to say? Yoouuu-“

“Okay you’re delirious now. I’m picking you up. But first. I’m gonna see what’s up with this ‘Octoling’ over here.” Umiko walked up to the Octoling, blank face and all. The closer she looked, the more she realized… “This is an AI. We’ve been working on these for a while… I can’t believe they actually made one. Welp! Good for them! I don’t care!” she turned back around to Three. “I’m gonna pick you up, okay?”

“Suureeee…pick me up!” she said sarcastically. “I’m nob weakbbb-Fwuakinnn…Owwww…”

Umiko giggled as she picked up Three’s bag and then picked her up bridal style, **she knew Three was gonna bounce back.**

Three whimpered out of pain once she was picked up, so Umiko tried her best not to fiddle with the wound, or even touch it.

In all honesty, Three was trying to make Umiko laugh a little bit to put her at ease but at the same time, she was losing a lot of blood… Three looked up at Umiko the best that she could…everything was blurry.

Umiko, with Three in her arms, carried her as quickly as she could.

Walking for what seemed like forever…Suddenly…she saw…light. Light! “This must be the end of the tunnel! Three’s we’re at the end of the tunnel!!!” she said, jumping up and down.

“Ow. Ow. Ow.”

“Oh sorry.”

“Isss fineeee. Get us…outta here.”

Umiko walked towards the light of the tunnel, both of them feeling the air brush against their skin, the light bouncing off them.

Three opened her eyes as big as possible, looking at the sky above, which was all she could see based on the position she was in. It was cloudy…and humid. Three thought the underground was just one big building… if she was being honest. However, she thought that she was hallucinating and the pain in her arm just increased with every step Umiko took. She just closed her eyes, feeling another tear run down her face.

_Three…you’re showing weakness. A damn Octoling is carrying you around and you’re…crying? Buck the fuck up you punk. You’re scaring yourself shitless._

When Three opened her eyes again, the sky wasn’t as cloudy as it was before…it was slightly sunny but it wasn’t a pretty sunny. The sun didn’t even look real. She was laying on crusty and dry grass, mostly colored brown to indicate the lack of care and moisture. Her arm was…holy shit her arm was on fire!

“Ah!” she attempted to sit up but an unknown force placed her back down on her back.

“Okay! Okay! I apologize! I’m just trying to fix you!”

“U-Umiko?”

“Yeah! It’s me!”

“S-Stop.”

“Stop what?”

“Touching my arm.”

“No.”

“What the fuck do you mean ‘no’?”

Umiko applied more pressure to Three’s arm, which made Three flinched and yell once again, making her more annoyed than ever. It really. Fucking. Hurt. “Stop!”

“I have to apply pressure to the wound or else you will lose hemoglobin and become anemic or it will get infected! Just bear with me! Bite on something.”

“Like what? The crusty ass grass? And where’d you get all that stuff from?”

“You had a first aid kit…or something of it, in your bag. It had nothing but band-aids and gauge, but I was able to use the oils from the trees as medicine. I didn’t put it on you yet.”

Three tilted her head to the side. “And are you sure that the…oil from the trees are okay for Inklings?”

“Yeah, yeah! Inkling and Octoling skin are very analogous!”

Three raised an eyebrow.

“Similar.”

Three nodded. She sucked in air aggressively through her teeth as Umiko put more pressure on her wound.

“In all honesty, it’s not all that bad and most likely, you’ll avoid infection. If not, you’ll still be okay. And at least it’s your left! I can tell you’re right-handed.”

Three was actually astonished by everything Umiko was saying and doing for Three. She could say…she trusted her…but…she wouldn’t go that far. Three doesn’t trust anyone. She watched as Umiko put the oil on her wound and then dressed it in gauge carefully and gently but firmly. It still hurt, but now, it didn’t feel as bad.

“Tight or-?”

“No,” Three moved her arm slightly, stopping when it began to sting. “It’s fine. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome!!”

Three was honestly very grateful…but she told herself over and over again…don't let it happen again. Ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...if you were wondering why a few things were bolded...it's because it's being told by a narrator that knows how Umiko and Umiko only is thinking and feeling. The narration that's not bolded is usually told from a narrator that understands only Three's feelings and no one else's. The narrator can look at motions from other characters and explain those but not emotions. This narrator is aware of Three's emotions, feelings, and thoughts, and sometimes Three takes over the narrator's spot (only about 10% of the time, and sometimes you can tell when she does) the italics are what Three is thinking as well. Since Umiko is an important character, I gave her bold...the bold won't happen too often, it was just very important in this chapter and in that moment so later, you'll just have to infer what Umiko is feeling and thinking sometimes but the bold will definitely come back at least once or twice. That's what I love about being creative with writing!!! :3  
Hope you enjoyed! uwu


	5. Chapter 5: Code Three (Octoling Killer)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ThIs cHaPtEr iS sO aNgStY! I'm so sorry! XD
> 
> Okay, so there are only about 4-6 chapters left of this story, just letting you guys know! Hopefully you guys like this chapter, it didn't take me too long because...lol, this was kind of a vent chapter. 
> 
> Anyway, hope you guys enjoy!

Three’s arm was beginning to feel so much better. Both her and Umiko hoped that with the materials and ‘medicine’ they had, that Three wouldn’t develop a terrible infection.

“Even if you did get an infection, it would be easily fixable,” Umiko said. Three didn’t believe her. That was just something to say to make someone who just got stabbed and didn’t even have proper medicine and care to take care of the wound feel better.

Three and Umiko sat there for a while, observing the sun and the trees. They looked odd to Three. She compared them to the trees, sun, and flowers that she was looking at, to the ones that she visualized from Inkopolis. Everything in the underground looked entirely different.

“What’s up with this place?” Three asked.

“What do you mean?”

“It just looks…weird… I don’t know how to describe it.”

“That’s because it’s all fake.”

Three gazed at Umiko and waited for her to explain.

“It’s all fake. Well…the sun is fake. It’s just a luminescent ball of artificial light form a holographic projector. You can just tell. But also…I know that this place is a simulation. You can change it up to look like this odd weather subject called ‘snow’. You can change it up to look like…anything! I think it’s cool but at the same time…Uh. I don’t know. Everything else is…real…but deteriorating. Like the trees. They are deteriorating, so they also secrete oil. That’s what I used for your wound. It’s universal medicine.”

“It stings.”

“Well…”

“I better not get a fucking infection or I’m coming for your ass and this tree’s ass.”

Umiko laughed. But Three wasn’t laughing…on the outside.

It wasn’t long before they left that artificial place. Once they left and stepped outside of a sliding metal door. They closed it behind them, leaving them back into the gray and dark atmosphere they knew. Luckily, there were no more tunnels, just a singular hallway. Three didn’t know where to go and if it was even safe to move.

“Um… I know where I am now… we’re not too far from the city. We just have to get out of here without being seen. There are some…doors…that you can… go through to get out of the facility.”

“Oh okay.” “Actually Umiko, do you know what this facility is called? I never asked and I feel stupid as shit for not asking before.”

“Oh! It’s the Octoling Training and Sanitize Service. OTSS! You’ve basically seen almost everything but I’m positive you don’t want to see everything else. The only thing you haven’t seen is the Hypnotization Training Area that I’m from. Basically…they just test your ability to stay underneath the command of King DJ Octavio! Whenever he comes back…”

Three observed the expression on Umiko’s face. She looked…hurt? Hurt about what? Octavio? That couldn’t be. The Octolings opposed DJ Octavio…at least that’s what she heard. “Do you uh… miss DJ Octavio?”

“Part of me doesn’t but… also… a part of me does.”

Three couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Why? He’s awful! Haha, two years ago, I was so glad I whipped his ass!”

… Three wasn’t supposed to tell anyone that. She was too in the moment. Too comfortable.

Fuck.

Umiko whipped her head around so fast to look at Three she almost cracked something. “You were the one who did that? You’re…THAT Agent Three?”

Three just stood there with a blank expression.

“You never told me you were an agent! And you look nothing like how they draw you!” she said, a tint of playfulness…with a confusing tint of anger. “You’re taller…darker tentacles… mercenary…”

“Wait. Wat.”

“But…you’re Agent Three. I…I didn’t know that. You. You were the one that was sent to kill as many of us as you could, weren’t you? I heard it over the speaker this morning…you were…how could I miss this?”

…“N-No. No. That’s not it at all! I didn’t come here to kill Octolings! I TOLD you I was here to investigate and then get back to my Captain!”

“And is this Captain…Captain Cuttlefish. THAT Mr. Craig Cuttlefish of the New SquidBeak Splatoon?”

“Y-yeah? But what does that- and how do you know?-” All those books Umiko read… of course, she knew about the history of the Great Turf War…actually every Octoling most likely did.

“Your Splatoon caused a whole world of problems for us! That’s the entire reason we are underground.” Umiko started to back away from Three slowly until she stopped in her tracks. “The Great Turf War…uh…Craig Cuttlefish and Octavio caused all of this…Cuttlefish drove Octavio into the ground while Inkling lived life up in the open where there is happiness, freedom, the sun, and the sky… breathable oxygen. While we are STUCK down here with artificial light, artificial oxygen and now no ruler, yet still underneath the power of a dictatorship… The New SquidBeak Splatoon just couldn’t leave us alone.”

Three didn’t expect Umiko to say stuff like this... She didn’t expect Umiko to start an argument at all. Now she could tell…Umiko was truly upset…at her… at the situation. But…Three was still confused…and…

“Inkling kind is not the only kind to blame! Your ruler sent out troops of different species to hunt us down, steal our power source, and kill us! Kill our best agents!” Three walked toward Umiko, backing her into the wall. “I almost fucking DIED. I almost died from getting cut and shot at, swallowing enemy ink, falling off cliffs, and I got word after the whole NEW fiasco with the Great Zapfish, not too long ago before I came down here and I met you, that my friend Four was close to death because you guys thought it was funny to kidnap one of our idols! Possibly…brainwashing her, but who knows, you could’ve done worse!”

“We’ve been brainwashed. Didn’t you just hear me? All of our Octoling troops are brainwashed when we send them to Octo Valley and Octo Canyon!”

Three didn’t know that. That’s probably…the glasses…she ripped off that Octoling’s face…

“You think-“ Umiko was starting to form tears at the corners of her eyes. Her voice cracking. “You think that this is a choice for us? You think…you…you actually think… you actually think that we want to h-hurt the Inklings? We don’t. But you come and a-attack and… hurt us. So, we defend ourselves and get revenge. What are we supposed to do when the ‘Great Agent Three’ is spotted near the area? We actually have a code for you. ‘Code Three.’ A.k.a. the most dangerous and foul-smelling Inkling known to Octoling kind is nearby. Either take shelter or prepare to fight. Although some of us took you as a joke… most of us… we lived in FEAR of you. You were labeled a KILLER. I don’t know if I want to believe that label or not…”

Three didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t even comprehend…she couldn’t even bare too… She couldn’t counter that, and she couldn’t defend herself. She felt that…she was a killer. She could feel it and it felt bad. She’d killed so many Octolings. So many Octarians. So many…too many…too many to count…so many to feel bad about. But at the same time…

Umiko wrapped her arms around herself, feeling chills rise up and down her body from anger and fear. She continued. “I’ve lost so many friends that I can never see again. So many friends that didn’t have to leave so soon. They didn’t deserve it at all.”

“I didn’t mean to kill… I had to for protection. I’m-I’m sorry that I- I didn’t know… But…Umiko…after what we’ve just been through…you don’t trust me anymore?” she said, sadness in her voice. “What if I told you that I wasn’t like that anymore? That I don’t like killing anymore. Would you believe me?” Three got closer to Umiko, attempting to touch her on the shoulder but she moved away. “I thought you said you believed I was here for you guys. Remember? I want to be here for you. I want to. I swear.”

Umiko interrupted her. “I’m starting…to realize…that you’re using me…to get out of here. Were you going to kill me too Three?” Umiko looked as if she was going to cry right then and there.

“What the fu-” Three rubbed her face in frustration and walked back and forth across the hallway and then back to meet Umiko face to face. She tried her best to stay calm. What Three got from this…was that Umiko must have been alone. She took a deep breath and exhaled, feeling most of the anger leave her system. “Umiko, That’s so untrue. I wholeheartedly promised I would get you to the surface! Remember?”

_“Tell you what. I’ll help you get the surface once I find my Captain. We’ll be happy to help you.”_

_Umiko’s eyes lit up. “Really?”_

_“Yeah, dude.” (Kamabo Chapter 3)_

Umiko shook her head and glared at Three. “Would you have kept that promise? You are under the influence of Craig Cuttlefish. The one who promised to stay best friends with Octavio, be there for him, you know…be a friend. But that didn’t happen did it? History repeats itself and it has plenty of times, especially in my case and plenty of others as well. Inklings making promises to their friends and family and even enemies they can’t seem to keep. I wanna trust you Three but…I don’t know…”

Three grunted loudly in frustration. Loud enough to rumble the halls. She couldn’t keep in her anger anymore. It was impossible for someone like Three. “Umiko are you fucking serious!? Are you really gonna believe the bullshit that is coming out of your mouth!? Everything that I’ve done for you! I’ve stuck with you…LOYALY! I rescued you! Stopped you from sanitization! Protected you from your own kind! PROMISED you I would take you to Inkopolis! And now you don’t trust me!? BULLSHIT. ABSOLUTE FUCKING BULLSHIT. This is exactly why I don’t deal with Octolings anyway! They’re greedy! They’re ungrateful! And they can’t be decent friends!” now Three’s voice was wavering with chocked but held in sobs.

Umiko felt something inside of her just break. It was so realistic inside of her…she actually thought that her insides broke in two. Tears were now streaming down her face.

Three shook her head. “This is exactly what I get for trusting people. I should have learned from all of those other experiences in my life. Yet I don’t. fucking. Learn. So…whatever Umiko. Go get sanitized for all I care. Because I guess we were never friends in the first place.” She walked in the opposite direction of Umiko, turning and not looking back. She couldn’t believe what just happened. She felt extremely close to Umiko. Not as close as she does to Cap’n or Callie or Marie…but she was close to their level…and couldn’t have been much closer.

She thought she could change her thought process when it came to Octolings…but in the end, they were all the same. Ungrateful bastards who fool you with happy-go-lucky friendly personalities and then stab you in the back when they get the chance once they don’t need you anymore.

Three found a corner nearby and sat down in it, being as close to the wall as possible. She looked at her wound on her left arm. She was still bleeding through her bandages and she felt as if the gauze was sticking to her skin. Gross. She looked at it for a long time and felt a choked sob come up her throat and burst out.

She was crying.

A lot.

Why?

Well…She knew it was because of Umiko.

She knew that deep down inside she felt something with her.

Umiko was different.

Well not anymore.

She’s just like everyone else. Octolings AND Inklings alike.

Three wet her entire shirt and her tentacles. She wiped her eyes with her wrists and tried to take deep breaths. But they were so shaky and uneven, inconsistent. It was so hard to breathe. She had never cried so much. And for what!? Over an Octoling who wasn’t her friend in the first place? Three shouldn’t be crying over that. Three shouldn’t be crying at all. Three doesn’t cry. At least not anymore. Crying was weakness. And if Three showed weakness, then she was feeble. And that was not a label that attained to Three in any color, shape, or form. It was far from her touch and it was from her conscious and subconscious mind. And SHOULD be far from anyone’s thoughts as well.

Three was tough. She never cried. She never showed any weak emotion such as fear. Three gets scared but she doesn’t show it. Three should only be afraid of her own demise. Nothing else. If she was afraid of anything else, then she was weak. And that was not a label that attained to Three in any color, shape, or form. It was far from her touch and it was…it was the base of all her problems.

Three was afraid of losing. She was afraid of losing because if she lost, everyone else who put their trust in her lost as well.

_ Agent _ _ Three. Get up._

She couldn’t help but think about that time two years ago. She was just 14. New to Inkopolis. Curious. Now the Third Agent of SquidBeak. The Great Zapfish was stolen. Three was on a roll, until she got hurt. Badly. Cuts and bruises and aches all along her body. She felt incredibly heavy and nauseous. She wasn’t ready for this.

_“Three. Come one kiddo! Get up.”_

_“I can’t!”_

_“Yes you can! What’s wrong?”_

_“I…I’m hurt.”_

_“I know you are.”_

_“Then why did you ask-“_

_“Listen to me Three.”_

_“Yes sir.”_

_“You’re gonna get hurt. I know. I’ve been there. But I see it in you. You’re tough. You’re strong. And you care about people.”_

_“That last statement…was so fucking false.”_

_“But Three. You’re in the Splatoon.”_

_“Because you forced me too, Cap’n!”_

_“But you’re still here. Why didn’t you leave?”_

_“Because I… I have nowhere else to go.”_

_“Of course you do! It’s Inkopolis!”_

_… “Ow. Fuck… Cap’n I can’t do it.”_

_“Take your time. And as you do, tell me. Why didn’t you leave kid?”_

_……._

_…….._

_… “Because I love you Cap’n. No one. No one cared about me. And I didn’t care about them. Even those who were close to me.”_

_“…”_

_“I was a mistake. I was an accident of two crazy young adults who fell in love and went too fast. I was a burden from the start.”_

As Three looked back on it. She really didn’t have to tell her entire cliché life story. Edgy Bitch.

But…it was true.

_“I feel closer to you than I do my parents. You’re like the father I never had. And never thought I needed.”_

_“Oh… Well I love you too Three. You’re like the daughter I… well…I had a daughter but…I guess your like an um…you’re like aaaa….aaaaaaaaaa…Ah! I dunno. I love ya too kid! No get up. Get up Agent Three.”_

_“I’ll try…Gramps.”_

_Get up Agent Three._

Get the fuck up.

And she did.

Time to find Cap’n Cuttlefish. On her own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY LOLOLOL moar angst, yes indeed. Anyway, I...you can probably predict what will happen in the future chapters so I'm gonna tell you. This isn't the last of Umiko! You will definitely see her later! So technically I'm not spoiling you because...where/how/when do you think you will see her? Hmmm? *finger guns* 
> 
> (Haha, you don't have to read this stuff down here, this is basically just stating why I wrote this chapter.)  
Also, as I've stated before...this is kind of a vent chapter because...ahhh I'm having friend problems and have been having them for a while with someone I thought was close to me who betrayed me and walked all over me. The situation I wrote above is not the equivalent of what happened between my friend and me because, in Three and Umiko's situation, both of them are in the wrong. In my situation, my friend is in the wrong...I've just done nothing to solve it because I'm a pushover. In this instance, Three didn't have to lash out at Umiko like that and Umiko should have heard Three out and trusted her. HOWEVER, both of them are burdened with one mental issue, which you will discover later.
> 
> Thanks for reading my dudes! More chapters to come! The attempt at comedy will return, don't worry!


	6. Chapter 6: Failure?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lmaoooo, I posted this chapter about an hour ago and I realized that I messed up big time so I had to fix it!
> 
> Anyway, it's been a while but enjoy the new chapter! I hope you guys like it!
> 
> Also, two more chapters after this and I'll finally get back to The Agent That Works Too Hard and Color Collison and more future stories as well! I hope you guys are as excited about them as I am!

Three didn’t have a map but that was okay. She had instinct. After scoping the hallways to make sure no one saw her, approaching doors that didn’t open unless you had a password, she sat back on the ground and tried to take a moment to calm down, reduce her frustration and THINK.

She was extremely tired. Extremely. She reached in her bag and got out the canned food that she had brought with her. She wasn’t really hungry at all despite not eating for almost a whole 24 hours but she attempted to open the can anyway to at least get something into her system.

Then she realized she didn’t have a can opener.

“Cod dammit!” she threw the can down. “I’m not going out like this.” Here lies Three, she died from starvation and/or malnutrition because she forgot the can opener. How embarrassing.

Three, frustrated, decided to give up on opening the can and put everything back into her bag. She figured that it wouldn’t be best for her to stay in the same place just in case she was jumped or something like that.

Her thoughts kept racing as she walked cautiously through the halls. Every step she took was a silent beat of awkwardness, as she realized she had no one to talk to and no one to help her navigate the halls. She couldn’t even tell how she was feeling, her emotions were all too confusing. As usual. It made her head hurt because of it. She just couldn’t shake off the thought that she was in the wrong for leaving Umiko all by herself.

No. Three. Stop thinking about Umiko. Focus on your mission.

Leave. Get back to Cap’n Cuttlefish. Continue the investigation. Make Cap’n Cuttlefish proud. Make yourself proud.

Three believed there was no end to the endless maze of hallways. Doors and more doors covered each orifice of the wall, all of them had locks on them that looked as if they required a combination. Three didn’t want to try to open one and she was cautious about them, wondering if one would suddenly open. She didn’t have to be worried anyway. She was Three! She could splat any… Octoling…

_She was a killer._

A shiver went down her spine as a few thoughts came racing back. She slammed the side of the wall with her fist with so much aggression, the side of her hand was beet red. She scolded herself for reverting to a negative mindset and once again…thinking about Umiko. Three may have been scolding herself about this…but at the same time, it was clear as day that Three was going to be constantly thinking about the things she said.

Soon, Three came to a ladder laid up against the wall. It went through a dark hole in the ceiling that was actually a grate.

“Now how the fuck do you climb upstairs while in Squid Form? Maybe I can open the grate…” Three also knew that she shouldn’t ink the wall to swim up in through the grate, because the Octoling would know where she went. She needed to think strategically. She ended up just hopping through, quickly changing from kid to squid for in a matter of seconds before, punched a hole in the grate to get her bag through and after she hit the grate, she popped up into…

Air.

Fre- No…gross. This air wasn’t fresh at all. AT ALL. Three almost fucking gagged. There was no way this was Inkopolis air. Actually, she was wondering if this was one of the simulations…like the one that Umiko healed her arm in. She also wondered that, if it was a simulation, and all the aspects of it were fake, how did sap secrete from the tree? Odd.

The area she was in was cloudy and dark as if it were night. Three hadn’t been keeping track of the time at all, so it was most likely true that it was near night or even the middle of the night.

With her bag placed securely on her back, she walked in the direction of the path provided for her. It was a straight path layered with lights but also bombarded with fog, so Three could barely see anyway. The temperature was quite cool, maybe about 65 degrees but the air was humid. However, she was sweating. This was confusing because Three barely had on 65-degree weather clothes and her fabric was thin.

Then Three automatically knew that it was a simulation because she ended up running into a wall that caused the fog to ‘glitch out’. On the wall was a door. She opened it and left. She was back in another hallway. “Cod dammit.” She said with a thud to the floor. She sat down in anger and pure animosity. She couldn’t bear another minute in this Octarian facility. Nothing made sense, everything was dark and depressing, nothing was real. She was alone, bored, and quite honestly…scared. So once again, she found herself breaking down in tears. She scolded herself for that too. That was three times she cried in a day. And to make matters worse, she was in pain all over. Her wounded arm was burning, her head was pounding, and her muscles ached.

She was just so fucking done.

Peeling off the bandages on her arm gently, she shuddered in recoil as parts of the bandage remained stuck to her still wet and bleeding wound. It was swollen and red around the edges and throbbed painfully. Three reached into her bag and got out the first aid kit that Umiko had used before… Umiko…uh ah… using the peroxide and cotton balls to gently cleanse her wound. It stung badly every time she applied even the smallest amount of pressure, so she ended up just giving up, wrapping her arm back up with the original bandages and throwing the cotton balls to the side and putting the kit back in her bag.

Three was feeling malaise. It was so sudden and began after she started moving. Every step that she took was a step of agony. The bag on her back felt so heavy, her own head felt heavy. And damn…did she feel HOT. Her entire body was BURING. After a bit, she couldn’t even tell where she was, her vision became cloudy and dark around the edges as her head began to pound and pound and pound and pound…

Last thing she remembered was the intense pressure and pain in her head, her stinging arm, and hitting the floor.

~

“..ven mean?”

“I do…ow.”

“When will…wake up?”

“Is her face gonna stay like that?”

“Ew her arm is sticky!”

“Haha! She smells just how I imagined! Like peanuts and fish paste.”

“…What the fuck…?”

Three opened her eyes, wondering what those voices were around her. Sounded like there were about three people just having a conversation around her. She soon closed her eyes back up again and moaned liked a whining child as she turned her head away from the lights and voices. The lights had made her headache feel even worse. She felt a cold hand on her forehead, it made her jump.

“Damn…she’s on fire.”

“What? Where?”

“You dumbass. I mean she has a fucking fever.”

“Oh.”

Who were these people? And why the fuck were they sound loud?

“Get her like an ice pack or something, we need her alive.”

“What’s an icepack?”

“YOU DUMBASS!”

Three winced again at the sudden loud yelling.

“YOU dumbass. Look at how loud you are!”

“Yeah 104! You’re irritating the patient.”

“She’s not our patient 1024. She’s our prisoner! And look! The general will be so proud that we captured her. THE Agent 3.”

Three couldn’t understand a word they were saying, it was all in Octarian. But, she knew she had to move eventually. Three sat up sharply, readying her arms and legs for a possible fight. She struggled to open her eyes but did so anyway to get a glimpse at her pray. Three Octolings. One boy, two girls. All in shades. She swung her arm towards them but was unsuccessful with even physically touching them. She swung and missed all three of them. Leaning forward, she breathed heavily and regained a bit more power to try again and take another swing. Yet again, unsuccessful.

“Woah Miss Agent Three. Calm down. You don’t look so good.” One Octoling said, her tone mysterious, condescending, and belittling.

“Yeah Miss Three, you’re running a fever. I think it’s best that you don’t move at all.” Another Octoling with a condescending tone of voice said.

“You don’t want to make yourself worse.” The male Octoling said, his tone taking on his colleagues’ disgusting tone of voice. It made Three shiver with anger.

Three took in a sharp breath and got up on her hands and knees in order to get herself up off the ground. “You…fuckers… kidnapped me. You think…y-you…” Three flinched once she felt a couple of hands touch her shoulders and lay her back down. She couldn’t fight back; everything was becoming black around the edges again and her head began to throb once again.

“Well. We may have kidnapped you but…we also saved you from certain death. You’ve got a nasty infection right there in your arm.”

“I can’t…understand you but…o-one of y-your…friends or whatever the fffuckkk s-s-stabbed m-me. So. Fwack. Youwu.” She said in a high-pitched tone, delirious but one hundred percent conscious and aware of her situation.

A giggle was heard. “She’s cute.”

“You’re right about that 1024. And despite how useless she may be right now. She’ll definitely be useful in the future. And she’s THE Agent 3 soooo… Let’s bring her to the general.”

Not too long after the talking stopped, Three was being held by the wrists and dragged across the dark red cold floor. Her bag still on her back, which was weighing her down uncomfortably. At this point, she just wanted to sleep. She didn’t care where the Octolings were taking her, she just wanted to lay down and sleep.

Sleep.

Sleep.

Sleep.

More noise. When will the noise stop?

“THE Agent 3! You actually did it.” A deep male voice said. So deep it rung in Three’s ears. The acoustics in the room must have been crazy good, on top of this person’s war general voice. “Hold her up. What use will she be on the ground?” he continued to say. Three felt a bunch of hands lift her up onto her feet. Her knees buckled but the group of Octolings helped her stand. Three opened her eyes again, her vision cloudy and blurry but once she regained her sight again, she attempted to move and fight her way out of the Octolings arms.

What she saw before her was a somewhat tall and thin Octoling with shades on, however, the shades were as red as the other Octolings’ shades as if they weren’t ‘turned on’. This particular Octoling wore a general outfit, green and baggy, layered with buttons and sashes, topped off with a small hat that had a familiar symbol on it. Three didn’t want to think too hard about the symbol though, all she knew was that she had definitely seen it before.

Three continued to struggle and finally got up the strength to use her legs. She kicked at the general and screamed in frustration in pain as an Octoling applied pressure to her wound.

“Ah ah ah. I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

Three mocked. “What are you…gonna do to me…huh? Yeah, that’s right nothing you pussy.”

“But I can do so much to you Agent 3. I have access to so many things in this Platoon. Special weapons…sanitization ink…”

“Oo! Sanitize her! That would be fun! Sir!” one Octoling said.

“Uhhh…” the general walked back and forth, his hand on his chin. “She wouldn’t be Agent 3 if we sanitized her.”

“But she would, sir! She would just be under our control! Imagine how successful we would be if we had control over the strongest Inkling ever!”

The general stopped and assessed the Octolings and Inkling before him. His silence and stare sent a chill down Three’s spine. She wished she understood what they were saying, she really did. Whatever they were planning to do to her or do WITH her…she was definitely going to suffer. Three was actually scared. She was defenseless because of her wound. It had become infected and terribly painful, making her feel sick and tired. So even if she tried to fight, she wouldn’t do her best, especially against the Octolings. Because one thing is for sure…

Octolings were fighting machines. And Three was positive on that statement.

Her eyes were starting to water again. No, no, no. Three you better not cry, again! What are you crying for?

Actually, Three had a reason to cry this time. She had let everyone down. She had let Cap’n Cuttlefish down, she had let the NSS down, she had let innocent Octolings down, she had let Umiko down, she had let herself down. It made her feel like a complete failure. When it came to how Three thought, she was never scared of dying. Ever. She was just scared of…dying. As confusing as it may sound. She was scared of dying but not scared of dying. Maybe before she became an agent, she wasn’t scared of dying, but once she became an agent and had an important responsibility, she was terrified of dying. That meant that everyone who was counting on her was in danger, everyone who ever believed in her had to suffer because she was gone.

And Three didn’t want anyone to have to go through that grief and fear of everything going to shit because she was gone. Not that there weren’t other agents, it was just that…she was usually the one who was available…the one who was on top of everything….the one who was willing to go the extra mile for everyone.

Three must have spaced out because before she knew it, she was back in the room where she met Umiko, the sanitization room. It was more dimly lit now but it still looked the same as it did when she left it. She was now sitting in the chair that Umiko was sitting in. It was Déjà vu. Except she was the pray this time.

The tubes were inserted into her arms and she was strapped in by her arms and legs. What use would that be anyway? She couldn’t even move on her own now.

“So, what now, sir?” the male Octoling said.

“We wait. We wait until the sanitation process is complete and then she’ll be a part of our Platoon. Once it hits 70%, it’s certain that she’s ours.”

Three didn’t dare say a word. But so many thoughts were racing in her head. She needed to fight back. She could still feel the tears coming from her eyes and running hot down her face, making her feel weak and helpless like a small inkling child. She couldn’t just let these Octolings do that to her. She could see the green liquid run through the tubes and into her arms. At first, it felt cold and then it began to sting.

“Sorry.” She didn’t apologize to herself though. She apologized to Cap’n Cuttlefish, even though he wasn’t there.

_Get up, Three._

This had to be a fever dream. Cap’n Cuttlefish’s voice was so loud in her head it was like he was there in the room with her.

_Get up, Three._

_We look up to you, Three! You’re so epic!_

Now she was hearing Callie? What?

_Eh. You’ve got skill newbie._

Marie?

_KICK HIS ASS!_

Three remembered when she was fighting DJ Octavio, all of those Octolings that were cheering him on and booing her. It didn’t phase her. She was just glad that the Squid Sisters had shown up to cheer her on along with the Captain. She felt as if they actually cared about her. What a big step forward that was for her compared to her home life before she moved to Inkopolis.

Those Octolings beat her up badly as she moved further and further into Octarian territory. They taunted her, teased her, bruised her, and even got underneath her skin somehow. But you know what? She didn’t let them hurt her. Neither physically nor emotionally.

Three looked at the Octolings in front of her and then at the monitor, which read 62%. Three felt a rush of adrenaline and she used her fangs to rip one of the IV’s from her arm and use one of them to tear the equipment out of the wall, making the equipment barely miss the Octolings in front of her and almost knocking the general off his feet.

“What the hell!?” the general said.

However, the monitor didn’t turn off and the numbers didn’t stop counting but they counted slowly, until Three was able to finally get the other one out of her arm. Then it shut off completely. Her efforts stumped the Octolings but now she had to think about how to get out of the chair.

Shit.

She thought too fast.

The general shoved the three Octolings out of the way and gestured for them to move. “Go into the paste room and grab as many needles as you can! She’s at 64%! We can sanitize her still!”

Three struggled to get out of the chair, attempting to reach the button on the back of the chair with her tentacles by swinging them towards it but she didn’t have any luck. “Fuck.” She said weakly, almost out of breath. Her infection was still preventing her from using all her strength, but she was doing the best she could.

The general moved towards her but she kicked him away, using her legs and swinging her long tentacles around. She couldn’t get her bag off her back to get her weapon which made her even more frustrated because her weapon was RIGHT THERE.

However, everyone stopped in there tracks when a few stray brick debris started falling from the ceiling. Then a whole part of the ceiling caved in! Followed behind the debris was an Octoling dressed in a white body suit, tall-ish, bright eyes, holding an Octo Shot.

“What’s up fuckers!?” the Octoling said in Octarian. “Sorry. Three altered me to say that, she’s not the best role model.”

Three couldn’t believe her eyes. This was definitely a fever dream. “Umiko!?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yayyayayaya! Umiko is back!
> 
> Also, to be honest, I didn't like this chapter all that much but I had to write something so the story could get somewhere! Oof. Anyway, stay tuned for more! There are only 2 chapters left!
> 
> Annddd I probably should have left this here before but if you want, you can follow me on social media if you ever want to talk or ask me questions about my stories/art and stuff! I also do cosplay if you want to see that as well! 
> 
> Instagram: @meimelon.cosplay  
Tumblr: meimelon-p  
Twitter: @meimeimelon
> 
> Love ya!


	7. Chapter 7: Reconciliation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooo...angst? Angst. Yeah. Expect a lot more of that in this chapter. But hey, stuff is getting interesting!
> 
> One more chapter after this and the story will be complete! Thanks to everyone that supported this super experimental story! I'm very proud of it and it's the first work of a new series I'm working on which is called Behind The New SquidBeak Splatoon. Basically, it's about backstories, flashbacks, how the SquidBeak Splatoon came to be, The Agent's lives and backstories, the good stuff that you would think could fit into the game...but just wasn't mentioned in the game...but it's only in my headcanon and stuff! Hehe!
> 
> Thanks guys! :3

_You should never trust an Octoling. Ever. They’re selfish. They’re terrible. They’re ruthless and all they care about is themselves. Who would want to be friends with someone like that? Ever hear the story about Craig Cuttlefish and that Octavio dude? It’s awful what happened but at the same time, it was for their own good. It was for the Octolings own good. I bet they are living the luxury life in the underground. _

_…_

_“This Marina girl is…odd. She doesn’t look like everyone else.”_

_“Neither does Pearl. The gremlin.”_

_“Hey! That’s mean!”_

_“What? I’m just saying.”_

_“Both of them are adorable though!”_

_“Eh. They’re aight.”_

_“Wha- Three! Nothing pleases you.” Four’s voice rang high over Three’s headset._

_“Four, soon you’ll be old enough to understand why you shouldn’t blow smoke up strangers assess. You don’t know anything about her.”_

_“I don’t know much about you, but you seem cool and I’m not ‘blowing smoke up your ass’!”_

_“I like to make a good first impression though, even if it’s over…headset call…and I’m already awesome. And I don’t care what you think about me because you’re a colleague, a new agent, so you don’t have to blow smoke up my ass. Ha. But, even if she is an Octoling which it’s clear as day that she is…why should it matter? She hasn’t killed anyone.”_

_“Haha, you’re right about that. Well…whatever. Just go do your mission and come back in one piece.”_

_“Welp, you go do yours, bring our agent back.”_

_“You know I will. And remember, don’t tell Cap’n Cuttlefish. We’ve got this under control.”_

_“You got it.” Three turned off her headset and stuffed it in her bag and caught up with Cap’n Cuttlefish as they walked towards the metro._

_~_

Three couldn’t describe what she was feeling once she saw Umiko again. But she knew some of those emotions were rage and relief. Confusing, isn’t it? She didn’t want to see Umiko again but at the same time, she was happy to see her.

The general stopped in front of Umiko, hands behind his back and eyes in a menacing look, gazing up and down Umiko’s person. “420. We’ve actually been looking for you. And now that you’re here, we can just take you back in, sanitize you, and then sanitize Agent 3!”

The three Octolings came back, sanitization objects and materials from the room In their arms, some of them being frantically dropped onto the cold ground beneath them. They all looked over at Umiko and smiled at the same time. “420. Nice to see you again!” one of them said.

“Can someone tell me what the fuck anyone is saying?” Three said weakly in the corner of the room, still tied down to the chair.

Everyone turned to look back at Three and then back at each other. All of the Octolings had their eyes on Umiko, who was clenching her Splattershot so firmly that her knuckles turned white.

“I-I…” Umiko stuttered but they swallowed thickly and stood firmly on the ground in front of her general. Her Octo Shot held at her hip but ready to fire at any moment. “I don’t want to go back.”

“What was that?” the general said, stepping closer to her.

“I’m NOT going back.”

There was a brief silence in the room before one Octoling started laughing.

“Bitch, shut the fuck up, the general was supposed to laugh before us. You dipshit.”

“Oh shit. Sorry.”

The general laughed. “You’ve got guts stepping to me like that. How’d you even escape from here? Huh? How? You had to have some way.”

“I- That’s none of your business. I am conceded to keep my success of departure to myself.”

The general laughed again. “Why don’t you talk like a normal Octarian? I never said you were allowed to speak that way.”

Three tried to speak as loudly as she could. “Umiko…what is going on?”

“The prisoner over there is speaking. Most likely to you. Are you…affiliated with her somehow?”

Umiko looked at Three. Umiko had as much concern in her eyes as Three did. Three was certain that Umiko was just a scared as she was. She could see that Umiko was shaking, her weapon crackling and rumbling with every shaking and unsteady breath that Umiko took. Three knew…she was **terrified.**

“Are you?” the general said, more firmly.

Umiko and the general had a slight moment of exchanged stares, and then suddenly, Umiko moved quickly over to Three and pulled the lever on her chair, releasing Three from the grips of the metal strap downs. She stood up quickly, getting dizzy in the process and what a coincidence that Umiko just happened to know Three’s situation because she picked her up bridal style and attempted to run out of the center but the Octolings blocked her way out.

“Ah ah ah. You can’t just take the prisoner and run!” one Octoling said.

“Yeah 420. I’m going to give you another chance…then maybe you won’t suffer as much. If you drop Agent 3 now, I won’t sanitize you.”

“What will happen to her?” Umiko asked quickly.

“We can use her 420! We can sanitize her and make our army stronger. Think about all the amazing things we can do to the Inklings once we have her under our control and…she’ll be with you for as long as she’s alive.”

Umiko back up a bit to get a look at all the Octolings in the room. She shook her head slowly. “First off, there’s a catch. Second off, I’m not letting you sanitize her. I like her the way she is.”

“Then I guess we will have to sanitize you then.”

“Umiko, I don’t know what’s happening right now, but put me down.”

“No, Three. I can’t let them hurt you, look at you! Why didn’t you take care of yourself!?”

“Why’d you come back? I thought I was a monster to you.”

“I…” Umiko ended up putting Three down without saying another word, Three scooted up the wall away from the three Octolings and away from the general, creating a somewhat safe space as she slowly reached into her bag, looking for and bracing her weapon to the best standards. Umiko stood firmly in front of Three with her Octo Shot out. “No one. No one is getting sanitized. Not me. Not Three. No one.”

The general nodded. “Fair enough. 1024. 101. 721,” then he snapped his fingers and the three Octolings charged for Umiko. Umiko was quick to dodge and threaten them with a few blobs of ink from her weapon. She realized that the Octolings were without their weapons and that the general was never really inclined to fight unless he truly had to. This gave her a slight advantage, but at the same time, she was outnumbered.

“Umiko!” Three rasped from the corner. “I can help you, hold up!”

“No Three! I can feel your fever radiating from here!”

“I’m fine.”

“Says every cephalopod before they croak!!!”

“I’m not gonna!-“ Three sighed in frustration. “Cod dammit, let me help you!”

Umiko dodged an Octoling, grabbed them, and tossed them to the ground.

Three was surprised. “Damn! You’re really good,” she said, getting slightly distracted. Umiko laughed. “Thanks! Ow!” she got distracted for one second and was hit square in the side of the face by one of the Octolings, causing her to fall back and trip over the other Octoling she tossed on the ground. How unfortunate.

“But still, even though you’re good… I should help you, dipshit.” Three got up, confident and ready…ish, eventually getting her weapon out of her bag. She got up slowly but was pinned down quickly and aggressively by…the general?

“Don’t think you are going to get away. While your friend is distracted, I can just sanitize you myself.” The general then grabbed Three’s bad arm, which made her grunt in pain. She shoved him away a kicked him at his feet, sending him to the ground. But the man had skill.

Straight skill.

On the ground, he grabbed Three’s legs and pulled them from out under her, causing her to fall. Once she fell, the general stepped on top of her with one leg. “Aww, poor Agent Three is sick. She can’t fight as well as she did when she was well.”

Three wasn’t going to let this Octoling step on her, literally. She shot him in the face with her ink and once the general stumbled, she reacted quickly and grabbed Umiko, zooming out the door without another word. All the both of them could hear was loud yelling of incoherent sentences but Three didn’t look back. She _ran. _With Umiko’s hand in hers. She was still feeling extremely under the weather as well, so her legs didn’t carry her as far as she hoped. They both turned around the corner and found a small room that was labeled ‘closet’. Well shit, guess it was a closet.

Three’s breathing was incredibly strident. She dropped down to the floor on her bottom with a loud _thump_ and did the best she could to regain a constant and stable breath, but she just couldn’t. Umiko bent down and put a still shaky hand on Three’s shoulder and firmly squeezed. “Are you okay?”

Three shook her head. “It’s extremely hot in here.” She used her shirt as a fan, flopping it up and down on her torso. Umiko placed the back of her hand on Three’s forehead.

“Well, …you’re burning up. Is it your stab wound?” Umiko rolled up Three’s sleeve and looked at the cut. Three cringed as she did, it was painful. But Umiko cringed even more once she saw it. “It’s infected, Three! You didn’t even take care of iitttttt…”

“Well, I’m fucking sorry. I was busy with this dumb underground shit!” Three ground in frustration. She covered her eyes quickly with her hands and took deep sharp breaths. “I’m fucking sorry.” Her voice sounded wavered and weak, quiet…which is nothing like Three.

Umiko sat down next to Three. She wasn’t sure what to say.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was Agent 3. I’m sorry for killing everyone. I’m sorry for causing panic and all that shit around here. People are after my ass and that’s because I was having so much fun saving the world. You get cred, you know? And it feels good…especially when you’re doing it for someone.” She said, thinking about Cap’n Cuttlefish, Callie, Marie, Four…herself. “I’m such a fucking wreak, and you could’ve gotten hurt or died today. Why’d you rescue me? I can take care of myself.”

Umiko rubbed her arm and looked away from Three. “I- I missed you. I uh…I feel like I overreacted.”

Three sighed. “No, you didn’t.”

“I did. After everything you did for me… I should’ve just trusted you. You showed me your true colors when I first met you and studies show that 80% of the time people show you who they truly are, it’s… who they are. And when people show you who they are…believe them. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you. I should’ve stuck with you, even after figuring out you were Agent 3. I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to be detained, especially if you don’t deserve it and put your life on the line for my well-being. I thought I was a lost cause.”

Three took her hand off her face and adjudged Umiko’s facial expressions, smiling at her faintly. Umiko leaned over and engulfed Three in a warm hug. Three, her gay hearts beating like a fucking idiot, despite her just thinking of Umiko as a good friend, returned the hug. They both could feel the reconciliation happen as they did and it felt good.

Three pulled away from the hug, gagging.

“Do I smell bad?” Umiko said.

Three shook her head.

Umiko giggled. “Of course I don’t, I never smell bad.” She said with a smug on her face, implying of Three’s constant unpleasant smell.

Three smiled but then she gagged again. Umiko was feeling worried now. “But for real, are you okay?”

“It’s just extremely hot and I’m extremely nauseous.”

“O-oh! You’re probably going through what I went through earlier. Just go throw up-“

Before Umiko could say another word, Three leaned over away from Umiko and threw up, just as Umiko did before after she was almost sanitized. Luckily, this was a good sign. Three wasn’t sanitized, and now, all of the ooze was out of her body.

“Mmkay.” Three wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and stood up. “Let’s go.”

“Wait, you’re…fine now?”

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

Umiko stared at Three in disbelief. “Huh? You’re just going to get up and head out after just throwing up your guts, still attaining a fever, and an infected wound? What is…I…what the crab apples!?”

Three gazed back at Umiko, serious yet cliché expression of confidence and alacrity. “I’m Agent 3. I don’t get knocked down. Let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be the last of this story! So stay tuned! That chapter will most likely be out by this weekend or next week. I'm working on college applications and stuff, so I've been pretty busy! Don't' worry though, after the next chapter of this story, I'll be back to The Agent That Works Too Hard and Color Collision. After that, I'll post some new works that I've been working on too! Expect another Agent 3/Agent 8 story, An Agent 4/Marie Story, A Callie and Marie story, A Pearl and Marina Story, A story that takes place in the future for the whole crew (which will be super long and also super experimental because I'm not sure how people will react to how and what I will write when it comes to that story but all I'm gonna say is...that it's extra fluffy with a tad angst, conflict, love, gay cephalopods, and all that shiiittttt!)
> 
> Love u woomies and veemos! :3


	8. Chapter 8: The Hero You Want To Be

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um soo...I'm a wuss and I cried writing this chapter.
> 
> Lol! So thank you to everyone who joined me on my journey with this story! It was a huge first-time experiment for me because I've never really written anything like this before and I wanted to take a swing at Splatoon lore because it's so much fun! This is just Part 1 of Behind The New SquidBeak Splatoon though! If you liked this, you'll like the works that I have planned for the future for this series. This is just Three's story. Stay tuned for Four's, Callie's, Callie and Marie's, Marina's, Pearl and Marina's and possibly more! 
> 
> Anyway, enjoooyyyyy! :3

If Three could truly take a moment to think about everything that happened to her, she would most likely doubt her own mind. From being separated from Cap’n Cuttlefish, to being almost pummeled and pounded by an Octoling, to meeting Umiko and having a quarrel with her, to being stabbed, to almost being sanitized…she couldn’t believe she was still alive. She couldn’t believe she made it this far. Now, she was hopeful. Hopeful about getting back to Cap’n Cuttlefish, hopeful about getting Umiko where she needs to be…to Inkopolis. Hopeful that nothing bad will happen to her or Umiko.

Three trudged along the sides of the hallway next to Umiko. They thankfully lost the general and the three Octolings…for now. However, Three was badly beaten up and absolutely pale on the surface of her skin and even in her eyes. She limped with every step she took and foundered into the nearby wall if her left foot got caught behind her right foot or vice versa. Eventually, she just slid slowly down the wall and stopped without a warning.

“Three-“

Three shushed her. “I’m fine. Let’s keep going.” She said, forcing herself back up. Her knees buckled, sending her back down on all fours.

Umiko sat down next to her and moved her so her back was up against the wall. “Stop, Three. You’ll damage your immune system and befoul your well-being.”

“Big words. Head hurt. Shut the fuck up.”

Umiko giggled. “Just let me help you with your bandage. Give me your bag.”

Three maneuvered her bag off her back and handed it to Umiko, who quickly rummaged around inside of it to retrieve the first aid kit. She slowly pulled off Three’s bandages and cringed at the sight. “Three.”

“I’m sorry! I know.” She knew damn well it was infected, she was told that before and she could feel it.

Three could feel Umiko’s hands shaking. She reluctantly poured most of what she thought was peroxide on Three’s wound once she realized that there was nothing else to put on her wound.

“Hey Umiko. Aren’t the trees and plants down here artificial?” Three asked, randomly.

“Yes. Why do you ask?”

“You were able to get oil from the tree…I remember…when you were fixing my bandage before you did it…” Three said, her words scrambled and a bit confusing.

Umiko nodded. “That’s provided in all of the trees down here. It’s for ‘important’ soldiers who need quick medical attention. It supposed to heal almost anything…or so they say. We don’t really have medical support down here.”

“No hospitals or anything?”

“No, there are hospitals outside of the facility. Just…none in here. No infirmary or doctor on site.”

Three nodded sadly.

“No clean water either, so basically…we only drank if we were truly thirsty. Also…food was scarce, that’s what they told us. But, honestly, it seemed they were just telling us that because they weren’t so scarce on nutrition bars and cubes. Those were basically made of leftover food and protein dust.”

Three nodded again. She wasn’t sure what to say, all she knew was that it sounded as if everyone suffered in silence. “I know this may be crass to ask but how did you end up almost getting sanitized?”

Umiko exhaled loudly and continued to dress Three’s wound. “I ‘stepped out of line.’ I rebelled against the general because he was being harsh and insensitive toward a friend of mine for simply existing. So I…how would you say…roasted his ass.”

Three chuckled and shook her head. “Don’t say that.”

Umiko laughed. “After that, I went off and all of the buildups of being tortured for years came out. I said a few things and next thing I knew, I was being sanitized. I wasn’t too scared at first because I knew that if you didn’t get to 70%, you’d be fine.”

“How’d you know that?”

“You ever hear of Marina Ida?”

“Oh yeah! Off The Hook, right?”

Umiko tilted her head and was silent for a moment, but then perked up. “Oh! The Inkling she’s with? They named themselves? Well, yes! Marina. Well…first, let me start off saying…not everyone was as lucky as Marina. And I don’t mean that it was because she got to the surface, I mean…she was able to go to school and get training for what she wanted to do. No, every Octoling gets that. If you’re seen as ‘not good enough’, you’re sent here. This is where Octoling’s get sent to be trained as warriors to fight against…you.” She ended that sentence with an awkward sheepish smile. Three returned the same smile. Umiko continued. “This is uh…intense training because um…well, you know, you’re intense. And we were kind of scared of you, as I said before. Other facilities aren’t as harsh and degrading as this one. I’ve heard of so much better facilities where there is clean water…food…it’s just intense. But not as intense as…here.”

Three nodded, listening.

“We sent an Octoling off about 2 days ago too and she never came back. We actually sent her after you and reports were was that she found you and then disappeared. We thought you killed her. So, we transitioned into a higher state of panic and prepared harder and better than before. Um…that Octoling…her name, or rather number, was 614 because she was ‘made’ on the 14th of June.”

“What do you mean by made?”

“Well…some of us are born of course…we come from our parents, you know how the science works. But 614 was an experiment. The goal of the experiment was to make the strongest and most resilient Octoling possible. So, when we got reports that she was gone, we thought it was a failure, gave up on an experiment like that one, and just trained harder.”

Three coughed slightly and looked out into the hallway. “Well…I remember approaching her. I didn’t kill her. The floor caved in on us and we were sent to different places. Ow.”

“Sorry.” Umiko wrapped Three’s arm more gently and tapped it tight. She then put away the supplies and placed the kit in Three’s bag as Three took out her hero jacket and put it on. “Well…like I said…I’m sorry for-“

“Don’t apologize, it’s okay.” Three said. She smiled. They both smiled.

Suddenly, a loud and obnoxious alarm went off that made both of them jump. “Damn, what the fuck is that?”

“It’s the alarm!” Umiko jumped up and stuck her hand out in front of Three. “Come on, I’m pretty sure they are after us!”

_“Alert. Warning. Code Three. Code Rouge.”_

“Well shit.”

“Come on!” Umiko grabbed ahold of Three’s hand and ran off with her, crossing every hallway and finally making her way out of an exit door, which made Three highly upset because she couldn’t find any exit doors before. “Hey what’s Code Rouge?”

“It’s for Octolings that have escaped from a general.” She said. “Your hand is sweaty.”

“Because it’s hot as BALLS down here Umiko! Maybe it’s your hand that’s sweaty!”

“My hands don’t get sweaty! You’re the dirty one!”

“Just because someone has sweaty hands, doesn’t mean they are dirty, dumbass!”

Umiko laughed. “Whatever, you’re still dirty! We’re outside the facility but, it’s gated. So, get ready to climb.”

Three rolled her eyes. What was with the intense security in this place? It made no fucking sense. However, Umiko was right, except the fence was high and the only way to get over it, was to climb the building first. A huge ladder, which was foolishly put there, was spotted by Three on the side of the building. “Umiko, go up that ladder.”

Umiko did as Three said, climbing up the ladder with a sense of urgency as Three followed behind her.

“Wait, I didn’t think this through.” Three said.

“Well-ah- Three!”

“I’m sorry! I’m still out of it! Uh. Um.” Three looked around, not entirely sure why she did…possibly it was a habit in a situation of panic, but it wasn’t helping anything. “Can you jump? Like pretty far? I’m pretty sure you can with those thick ass legs. So just jump, I’ll be right behind you.”

“Okay!” Umiko was about to jump when she realized something from her blind spot. She looked over at it.

Three questioned her. “What the fuck are you doing? Jump! Go!”

“Three.” Umiko pointed to another area of the roof of the building, it was far out and actually…wasn't a part of the building. It was a glass staining that wasn’t even connected to the building and… she could see…

The metro.

“Three, the Metro! DeepSea Metro!”

Three looked over to where Umiko was pointing and her eyes widened to the size of saucers. The Metro… Cap’n Cuttlefish was there. “Well, then let’s go that way. Come on, we can get through the roof, can’t we?”

“Yeah! Let’s go.” Umiko and Three began to run toward the see-through glass but as they began to run, Three heard a thud behind her. She turned around and low and behold…

“Ah. Looks like you weren’t fast enough.” It was the general. Smirk wide, sweating beading from his forehead yet collected. However, he was missing his crew, so it was him, Umiko and Three on the roof. No telling what happened to the other three Octolings. The general had his arm around Umiko’s midsection tight, and a firm hand on her shoulder. “The alarm sent me straight to you. I thought you of all people know that it’s easy to track down other Octolings.”

Umiko did know that... she told Three that before.

Three took her weapon out of her bag. “You better fucking let her go.”

The general gazed at Three for a bit, his stare blank but menacing. “You know…I didn’t even need the alarm, that bright jacket is probably just as revealing.” He laughed.

“What?”

“He said he hates your jacket,” Umiko whispered.

“Uh…I like this jacket! You look like you’ve been running away from good looks your whole life.” Three wasn’t too proud of that one, but she had been out of it all day. That would have to do. “What do you even want with Umiko anyway? She doesn’t want to cause you trouble at all and all you’re doing is causing her trouble. What does she have that you don’t? Talent?”

The general made a small hum noise. “She does indeed have talent. Not that I don’t…or that my other Octolings don’t…but I do need her.”

“I dunno what you said but… I remember from earlier…you attempted to sanitize her, which what I have learned, isn’t certain that the patient is going to do exactly as you say. She may lose her skill. She may lose her abilities. So…what I’m hearing…is that you just wanted to torture her. Is that it? You seem like the type of person who would actually.”

“Why I-“

Umiko took the chance to elbow the general, making him let her go as she ran to Three’s side. Three tossed the Octoshot to Umiko and wrapped her cape around her neck. It made her feel more confident as if Cap’n Cuttlefish himself was cheering her on. She kicked her bag off the side of the building and stood in front of Umiko. “If you want her, you gotta kill my ass first. Which, I’m pretty sure is hard to do. I am Agent 3 after all.”

It was obvious the Three that she was invoking pure anger into the general. The ends of his tentacles turned green and red, which made Three laugh because green meant embarrassment, either that or jealousy. Red was obvious. She smiled at him and watched as he lunged at both of them. It was an unfair beginning to the fight because the general didn’t have a weapon. Just his hands. Three and Umiko didn’t mind one bit.

The general swung and hit at them both, trying to lay his hands on both of them, but whenever he did, one of them would pry him off the other or would prevent any physical contact. Eventually, Umiko was able to pin the general down on his stomach, holding the Octoshot to his back. “There aren’t any respawn points nearby so it’s certain death if you move.” Three said, kneeling to his level. “I would kill you. But…you’re not worth it. So, I’ll just knock you unconscious.”

And she did just that.

…

Umiko engulfed Three in a hug. “Thank you, Threeeeeeeee!”

“For what? You saved my ass!”

“I know but you saved mine! I can be free now!” she said smiling. But that smile soon turned into a frown.

Three cocked her head to the side in confusion. Umiko should be happy, why isn’t she? “What’s wrong?”

“Everyone else though. And you.”

“What do you mean.”

“Octolings are, you know…”

“Good at tracking. I know. But that’s fine. We’ll be on the surface and fight them if they try to come up here.”

“But Three. That’s dangerous. Very dangerous. For us and for you. And for…what’s it called SquidQuack?”

“SquidBeak.”

“Yeah that too.” Umiko giggled. “But…in all seriousness…I’m a huge danger to you.”

“I don’t understand how! Umiko. We knocked out the general, we made our way out of the facility! We are so close! My Captain is just down there, we can save you! Like I promised!”

“But I! I-“ Umiko nodded vigorously. “I know.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small eraser-looking thing. Three wasn’t sure what it was but it looked like one of those tiny erasers you get at school for free. It was painted to look like an Octoling, a sanitized Octoling.

“What’s that?”

“It’s an Anti-Mem Cake. You ever hear of Mem Cakes?”

“No.”

“Well basically, Mem Cakes help amnesia. The Octoling or Inkling can eat one and it’ll activate a part of their amygdala, hippocampus, cerebellum, and prefrontal cortex.”

“The fuck you just say?”

“So, it brings back any memories that may have been knocked out of your head in any way.”

“Ah.” Three said, nodding. “Wait, but this is an Anti-Mem Cake so…that would get rid of memories.”

Umiko nodded.

“And how’d you get this?”

“Made it in the lab a few hours ago before I saw you again.”

“And why are you taking it out now?”

“Because I need…I need y-.” She swallowed thickly. “I just wanted to show it to you.”

Three couldn’t have been more confused. “O-okay?? Cool. Well…thanks for showing it to me? I guess? It’s cool that you can make that…?”

“I also brought you water too. It’s super-hot and everything out here and I don’t want you to die! Remember, you told me to stay hydrated, so you must also!” she turned around away from Three and reached into her back pocket for a small water bottle that she took out of Three’s bag… “So, drink some before you, we, both leap on down to the metro!”

Three awkwardly took the water, thinking it was a bit odd of Umiko to be acting this way. Someone as smart and not even the slightest socially awkward was least likely to act as if she was having a hard time talking to someone she had known for a bit. Three was about to take a swig of the water when Umiko leaped and hugged her once again. And this time…

She didn’t let go. Not for a long time. “Thank you for everything Three.”

“O-oh. Like I said before, haha. You’re welcome. But thank you.” She returned the hug once again.

They stood there for a long, long, time before Umiko let go of the hug…but couldn’t let go of Three. Her hands were latched onto Three’s forearms. But eventually, Umiko let go and stood back, letting Three drink her water. Umiko let a stray tear fall down her face as she did.

“You good Umiko?” Three asked, still drinking the water.

“Mm hm. Just, give me a minute, I’ll be over there.”

“Aight.” Three closed the water bottle and tossed it. She then stood there waiting for…

Waiting for…

Waiting for someone…

Who was she waiting for?

Wait, she was waiting?

Why?

Where was she?

What was going on?

Why was she here?

She was fighting an Octoling and fell. That’s all she could recall…maybe…she was fine now! Or not, her arm hurt pretty badly, and she had an odd taste in her mouth like she had eaten a used eraser. She shrugged it off and began to pay attention to the small red distress signal, her eyes averted to where it was coming from, underneath the glass ceiling. She could see… Cap’n Cuttlefish! And an Octoling! In a blender? Odd. But she couldn’t dwell on thinking, she had to rescue them.

With a huge leap and knock through the glass, she was able to aggressively hit the top of the blender, sending an ancient-looking telephone to the ground. Then she blacked out.

…

Next thing she knew…. Her face was burning but the breeze was cooling. Her ears hurt too…there was a small ringing. It eventually went away. She looked up and around her, confused and dazed and all she could see was the outside world, above Inkopolis. And a beautiful Octoling standing before her.

…

“Heroes come in different ways. You may get one when you least expect it. You may call for one. Or you may have been the hero all along. But no matter what, heroism comes from within, it comes from the confidence and the strength and belief that you have in yourself and who you are. If you need to tell yourself that you’re the best, then do that! Don’t let anyone get you down. No matter what. Only you can change how you feel about yourself.” - Umiko

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for supporting this story! I love you all so so so much and I can't wait to do more!
> 
> So...as requested I'll continue to work on The Agent That Works Too Hard and Color Collision, but there are more stories to come in the future! So keep me in mind cuties!
> 
> Also, I'd like to thank Onxy_Black for helping me a LOT! They gave me constructive criticism and praise throughout the story's run and it really helped a lot! Thanks my dude!
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys liked this, stay tuned for more!


	9. Ending/Explanation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I usually don't do this for my stories, I just let them end and don't say anything but...when it comes to this story...I would just like to say a few things before I go on to the next story! 
> 
> So, I apologize, this 'chapter' isn't part of the story...it's kind of just an author's note thing??? Eh! I dunno. But read this if you want! You don't have to but, I say it's informative! :)

Hello everyone! Calamari Melon here, the author, writer, and creator of Kamabo! I’m glad that you guys liked this story :’) honestly, I really appreciate the love, criticism, and care that you all give and gave in the comments. I didn’t realize I had a following on this story that was bigger than The Agent That Works Too Hard! So thanks! I'll keep this short and quick because I usually don't put Author Notes at the end of my story!

I realized that I killed a bunch of people with sadness in the comments on chapter 8 and I’m S O R R Y! Like I said, I CRIED while writing this because ackkkk!

So, if you didn’t understand what happened, I’ll explain it to you and that’ll be it for this! I used to do stuff like this on my stories on another website I was on, usually at the end of the story so people can ask questions or so that I can clarify anything that I need to. However, I won’t be doing it on every story that I write, just on this specific one because it was experimental, and I want to know what you guys truly think because I plan on doing more stuff like this in the future!

So, this story is a part of the new series I made called Behind The New SquidBeak Splatoon! I have two series on Ao3 including one that is called The Works Of Agent 24…because dat is best shiiippp. (Aside from Bumbleby from RWBY and Catradora from She-Ra, tehe.) Basically, I plan on doing more stuff that goes into depth of everyone’s backstories or stories that haven’t been told such as what happened to Callie when she was under hypnosis, what happened to Marina when she was in the Octarian army, how did Pearl and Marina meet, etc, etc. So, stay tuned for those in the future because I’m still working on The Agent That Works Too Hard and Color Collision! The Agent That Works To Hard will be ending sometime next year and Color Collision will go on for a looonnggg time via Ao3 and Tumblr/Twitter! However, while I’m writing these and doing art for one of them, I will be writing the stories for Behind The New SquidBeak Splatoon, and The Works Of Agent 24 as well, along with a secret Agent 24 story that is in the works…however…I’m not sure how people will feel about the story and how people will react to how it’ll be written and executed…so… more info on that later because it’s a story that I came up with alongside a friend of mine that we are unsure of how people will react to it. I asked a few other people on what they think of it, some say it’s odd and some are telling me to go for it and write it because no one else has written anything like it before. Sooo…I might post it on here when it’s done! All I’m saying about that story…is that if I don’t do it right, it can come off as weird, super odd, useless, or self-pleasing and I don’t mean it in that way at all because there is reasoning behind it besides what the main focus is on…but more info on that later.

Okay! Back to Kamabo!

So, I’m very intrigued and interested when it comes to lore, I enjoy lore in movies, cartoons, video games, and even my own original stories! Although, when it comes to Splatoon… L O R E IS E V E R Y T H I N G. The thing about Splatoon is…is that…you can create you own lore. Which is mother effing cool as frick! THAT’S ONE REASON WHY I LOVE SPLATOON SO MUCH AHHHH. But seriously, I have created an entire map and rundown of lore for Splatoon and I can’t wait to share the rest of it with you all. So, when it came to Kamabo…I wanted to delve into the company of Kamabo without giving too much away and just letting you guys put it together for yourselves. Also, I wanted to delve into the Octarians, but only ONE side of the Octarians. Umiko came from a pretty dark place, while Marina came from a much better place. Nonetheless, both places are still close to a somewhat tortuous slight dystopia. Regardless, the underground isn’t the best place.

So, in the beginning, we’ve got Umiko and the sanitization situation. (Hehe that rhymes) I came up with the whole 70% sanitization thing because I made a theory that Marina was almost sanitized but was able to revert to her normal self through technology and science because she had big brain time. XD Umiko is just as smart as Marina, but smart in a different way. Umiko has ginormous vocabulary and oodles of common sense and knowledge on her kind and Inkling kind. Marina is basically…Jimmy Neutron just sexy XD. (Jesus crust, I need sleep.) It’s just the way that Marina’s claws, tentacles, and eyes looked that made me think for a moment…because Eight doesn’t look like that…the other Octolings don’t look like that, Dedf1sh doesn’t look like that, and she’s been sanitized…so I guess she doesn’t count. I DID THEORIES OKAY!? The more disgusting part that I put in there, that if you don’t get to 70%, that you throw up all the contents that was put into you in the first place, was straight-up science. XD because I’m good at science as well! But also, it’s just fun to torture the characters you love and I’m a huge fan of angst and stuff! *jazz hands*

The ending! Well shit, I know I made some of you guys cry and I’m sorrrryyyyy. I just had to do something so it could match the game. But also, I didn’t want to kill Umiko and I didn’t want Three to remember her at all because that would mess up her future actions and relationship with Eight…which is really, really, important and plays a huge role in the stories to come. Three’s relationship with Eight is not just important romantically but also platonically because it skews with Three’s mental state and ability to do her job the way she wants to…as you’ve probably seen in The Agent That Works Too Hard (if you’ve read it). Overall, I wanted her to completely forget about Umiko all together, and completely forget about what happened to her as well. Basically, Umiko dissolved the Anti-Mem Cake into the water bottle that she gave to Three and disappeared. BUT GUYS…SHE’S OKAY! It’s up to you beautiful people to determine what happened to her. Make fanart, make fanfiction, tell me in PMs, DMs, what have you if you’re interested! I wanna know what ya’ll think!

But, I won’t say too much or keep you all too long from the other awesome stories here on Archive, if you have questions for me, basically anything AT ALL, my PMs and DMs are open EVERYWHERE! Catch me on Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Tik Tok, anywhere and just shoot me a HELLO and ask me questions or just talk to me! I love people and I’ll most likely respond to all of you!

Twitter: @meimeimelon

Instagram: @meimelon.cosplay

Instagram (For Art): (Which isn’t up yet but will be soon) @meimelon.doodles

Tumblr (For Splatoon Comic/Ask that also isn’t up yet but will be soon, lol): asksquidbeaktrio

Tik Tok: @meimelon.cosplay

For questions, chats, anything you want at all!

I’ll see you guys in the next story! Love you all and STAY FRESH AND DON’T GET COOKED, STAY OFF THE HOOK!

P.S. If you want more Umiko, just say the word and she’s yours because I really enjoyed creating her and writing her! uwu


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